‘The Crow’ Flies Again, Eyeliner Not Included

Posted by Rob Hunter (rob@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 15, 2008

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So imagine you’re Stephen Norrington. You make a mildly entertaining little film called Death Machine about a battle-bot run amok, and three years later you release the kick-ass, franchise-starting Blade. It’s a big success, but instead of capitalizing on it you disappear from the directing scene. Three years pass and you return with a small, inventive, but ultimately confusing film called The Last Minute that few people see and fewer people enjoy. It’s time to return to Hollywood, and after your success with Blade you decide a second comic adaptation is ideal… and you spew The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen unto the world.

Do you think a remake of The Crow is your best shot at redemption?

Okay, enough imagining, Variety is reporting that Norrington has signed on to write and direct a remake of The Crow, a film best known for the death of star Brandon Lee. The original Alex Proyas film, also based on a comic, follows a murdered musician who returns from the dead to seek vengeance on the thugs who killed him and his girlfriend. It made almost $100 million at the worldwide box-office, and was followed by at least three sequels and a TV series.

Norrington sees The Crow a bit different from what people have come to expect. “Whereas Proyas’ original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style,” he says.

But seriously now, The Crow was a success for two reasons, one of which he can’t recreate and one he’s choosing to ignore. The tragic death of Brandon Lee is reason number one. It created an aura of mystery, sadness, irony, and creepiness around the entire film, and people wanted to see it. Norrington probably won’t be killing his lead actor. Reason number two is the gothic sensibility of the film, as embodied by the soundtrack, the dyed hair and eyeliner, and the constant rain. Norrington is jettisoning all of that. Which makes me wonder why he didn’t just direct The Punisher instead…

What do you think of a non-goth remake of The Crow?

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Jensen

This is a very bad idea.

Christopher M

This is the worst idea ever...if you look they've had three unsuccessful sequels..I wish they would just leave this alone...the original maybe dated but it was a perfect example of the year it came out...plus honor the performance of Brandon Lee the same way we would all respect Heath's Joker....I don't understand why Norrington doesn't use this new vision for a Sandman movie instead....

Ronnie_S

I wasn't a big fan of The Crow, but I do know how important it was. And it was definitely because of those two factors.
Not to mention the time it was made. Strangely, the early 90s kinda marked the time when music had a certain soulful edge that hasn't been duplicated and died off along with many people. I don't know if an updated soundtrack could have that same power right now.

d0x

Brandon Lee's death did get people into the theater but the original Crow was just an excellent movie. I've watched it about 1000 times. The small details Lee put into the character really make the movie.

He skirts the line of insanity quite well and it would be hard to do that character justice. For instance when Lee jumps over Gideons have and hangs up side down and starts drooling then pops him in the head with a bat...perfect acting.

When he's in the scene with Fun Boy and asks him if it hurts..perfect delivery.

I dont see anyone else delivering a performance that would match the comic character so perfectly just as I dont see anyone ever doing a better Joker than Ledger. Neither have anything to do with them both dying they were just excellent performances.

The Crow franchise was ruined by its sequels. The only one that is even watchable is the one with Eric Mabius and even thats stretching it.

Remaking this movie is nothing short of an insult.

What they should do instead of revisit the original Crow and update all the special effects and just release it again. It would be cheap to do, it has a built in audience and would easily make any money spent back. Then release it on Blu-Ray and make even more money. The only reason I even suggest this is because alot of the effects look stupid due to the low budget of the movie.

Perfect example is when Fun Boy shoots Draven in the hand and you see the hole as he waves his arm in front of the camera. It looks like some guy off camera is holding a plastic arm and its terrible. Fix it, release it and you get my $$.

Nick C

I don't know why some filmmakers think that simply scrapping elements from the source material will provide a sound basis for a better film. I've never read the comic so maybe someone can tell me if Proyas' vision was close to James O'Barr's, I know O'Barr is interviewed in the documentary about the making of the film and seems happy with it. Still, it just doesn't pique my interest.

chrisduncan

This is a horrible idea. The Crow was awesome because it didn't try to bite off more than it could chew. It was relatively simple with clear antagonist/protagonist (other than the cops thinking The Crow was bad... but that always happens). The plot is emotionally deep but also pretty straightforward. The "more is more" concept will definitely make this remake a piece of crap. It will probably make the main character too ambiguous in motivation and then rip off The Dark Knight somehow. Also, after I saw TDK, I really wanted to watch The Crow and The Professional/Leon again...

OCD
http://www.officialchrisduncan.com

Big K

How the hell are you going to make the Crow less gothic? That's the entire idea!

J. O'Barr had Goth influences throughout the comic. The physique of Eric Draven was based on Iggy Pop. One of the chapters is called "Like A Concave Scream". The soundtrack has Joy Division and the friggin' Cure on it for Christ's sake!

The only way "The Crow" could be more Goth is if the ghost of Brandon Lee rose up and gave out Hot Topic discount coupons at every screening!

I agree with the comparisons to Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. Respect the dead and leave this one be. If Norrington wants to remake something so bad, he could start with that douche explosion called "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen".

Lei

If a remake of the crow were to be released minus the goth image, you will have a whole culture of a variety of people feeling angry and betrayed. mmm I WONDER!

Fetter

ew. what the hell. I desperately hope that J. O'Barr doesn't let them go through with this. The original style of his graphic novel was imitated quite nicely by the original film, and now they've got to make a "hip, 21st century" remake of a classic. Hollywood is disgusting.

Mathieu Lalonde

What's the point?!?
It's like he's doing a Superman remake without the red and blue tights and cape!

‘The Crow’ Flies Again, Eyeliner Not Included

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