The Crow Remake Trailer is as Lame as the Idea of Remaking The Crow

Movies

Lionsgate couldn’t let those images from two weeks ago stand alone (just like they couldn’t let a beloved movie stand alone). Today, the studio released a trailer for the remake of The Crow, the 1993 cult classic starring Brandon Lee. The story of the Crow remake seems pretty much in line with the original: after Eric Draven and his fiancée, Shelley, are murdered by gangsters, Eric is returned to life by a crow as an invincible avenger hunting down his lover’s killers. Bill Skarsgård plays Eric Draven this time, with FKA twiggs as Shelley and Danny Huston as the villain. Directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Zach Baylin and Will Schneider, the remake of The Crow will hit theaters on June 7, 2024. You can see the trailer below:

This movie looks like a guy who dresses up as a character for a Halloween party but half-asses it, and nobody recognizes his costume. Based on this trailer, the remake of The Crow feels desperate, like it’s trying to convince us it’s cool rather than just being cool. Notice how overboard they go with Eric’s look; Brandon Lee’s Eric had the long hair of a rocker, but Bill Skarsgård is covered in tattoos and piercings. The Crow started right with the murder and jumped into the story, with the occasional brief flashback (devoid of dialogue) and Eric’s determination to exact his revenge to demonstrate how much he and Shelley loved each other; the remake appears to have extended scenes between the two before the action starts to make sure we get it. It’s the difference between suggesting and beating you over the head with a mallet. I also don’t like that they seem to be trying to make Eric more vulnerable; he looks like he feels pain when shot, and he’s shaky and unsure of himself when he holds the gun to that one guy in the car. Part of the appeal of The Crow was seeing Eric as an unstoppable force of nature, striking terror in his enemies until Top Dollar discovers his weakness. Speaking of which, the bad guys don’t look half as cool or offbeat as the ones from The Crow; Danny Huston looks like every crooked businessman he’s ever played (and that’s a lot), missing the vibrancy and demented joy that made Michael Wincott so deliciously evil as Top Dollar. The depressing song they play is lame and boring, the makeup isn’t as cool and ghastly as Bradon Lee’s, and Skarsgård’s shaky voice doesn’t hold a candle to Lee’s haunting determination. (I can’t imagine this version doing that cool and creepy recitation of “The Raven.”) It all sucks the fun out of what was an entertaining and endlessly satisfying revenge movie. Maybe the Snow White and the Hunstman guy wasn’t the best director to finally settle on for this.