“Reviving Dark Romance: Bill Skarsgård Takes Flight in Rupert Sanders’ Updated Vision of ‘The Crow'”[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djSKp_pwmOA[/embed]

It’s hard to get too upset with director Rupert Sanders and Bill Skarsgård’s The Crow. This new version has indeed been well updated, looks very good, and plays on universal themes and emotions, even though the story of Eric Draven and Shelly is still largely for a niche audience.

Hollywood’s endless cycle of remakes has this fall come to a rather legendary one, namely The Crow. James O’Barr’s dystopian comic from 1989 has undergone several changes, both in terms of story and characters since then, but the framework is also much the same in this year’s edition.

Absolutely nothing could come between the two and their love for each other, that is… except for the eternally annoying and sheer bedroom curtain that often had a tendency to interfere! (Photo: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate)

Eric Draven’s tough childhood and white trash upbringing also haunt him into adulthood, where he ends up in prison and rehabilitation. During his stay, he meets young Shelly, a young woman whose past consists of a dark secret. Their relationship quickly blossoms and solidifies within both of them, but when one day they escape from prison, Shelly’s past catches up with them both. It ends in tragedy, and they are both killed, but Eric gets the chance for revenge by selling his soul along the way.

The most well-known retelling of Eric’s story is Alex Proyas’ film adaptation from 1994. The lead actor and new Hollywood darling Brandon Lee was shot and killed on set by a prop gun that accidentally still had a projectile in it. The film’s legendary aura and legacy thus became a fact.

Now that Swedish star Bill Skarsgård has taken over the role of Eric, it is, of course, and fortunately, a fairly updated and quite new story. The essence of the revenge theme, the supernatural, and the theme of love is preserved, while the introduction with Eric and Shelly in prison, as well as some other things, is new.

Mascara on? Check! (Photo: Lionsgate)

Now, I must admit that I belong to those who never quite managed to embrace the ’94 film fully, as it is too dark, gloomy, and simply a bit dull. In Sanders’ new version, one manages to become a bit more engaged, largely thanks to Skarsgård’s and co-star FKA twigs’ good chemistry and charm. At the same time, there is something a tad paradoxical about it, for Skarsgård’s Eric and twigs’ Shelly are obviously far too beautiful to credibly portray worn-out junkies. There is just something about Skarsgård that radiates a made-up and contrived junkie vibe, where his well-toned muscular body, painted tattoos, and his perfect teeth and skin bear little resemblance to a hard-lived life.

However, Skarsgård does come off much better with his acting and his occasional charm. Fortunately, director Sanders has also insisted on a very rough, bloody, and brutal style that adds the right atmosphere to this dark and mildly hellish environment. Here, body parts are cut off all the time and blood sprays everywhere, including in a juicy choreographed and orchestrated opera scene towards the end. Moreover, the instances of body horror throughout will likely attract even more fans. The extensive use of CGI and post-production work looks very well done. So… Bill Skarsgård, one of dad Stellan’s countless actor sons (one has long lost count, to be honest!) has with this rough role as Eric Draven definitely become a grown-up boy!

The story of Eric, in a sort of darkly humorous way, may remind one of both Batman’s tale and his arch-nemesis the Joker. Eric Draven also has a tough and traumatic upbringing, experiences great love for a short time, and vows revenge against those who brutally took it from him. On his path to revenge, he paints himself like the Joker and goes bananas in the confrontation!

There’s nothing like a romantic makeup session around the campfire, I say! (Photo: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate)

The Crow 2024 has managed to retain the original story’s darkness and themes in a very good way, while by the end credits, one is struck by how incredibly dark of a dystopian Romeo & Juliet story this really is. If one enjoys navigating such a grunge-like, dirty, dark, and depressive universe, The Crow must be like the pure, black Paradise!

For the rest of us, one such film might suffice for a while, even though the story of Eric and Shelly also holds something heart-wrenching, romantic, and sacrificially rough and tough about it as a love story. Such themes and stories are known to never die, and are here wrapped in frameworks that also exude the comic book landscape that James O’Barr and countless others have rolled around in throughout history. One doesn’t exactly leave the cinema feeling happy and full of life after this, and the story has its limitations, but one has certainly embarked on quite a wild and pitch-dark journey along the way, and the film deserves credit for that.