The Crow Reboot’s Supernatural Villain Is a Major Misstep

Contains spoilers for “The Crow”

After over a decade in development hell, the latest reboot of “The Crow” is finally here. This journey saw numerous names associated with the project falling in and out. Alexander Skarsgård and Jack Huston were once rumored to play the lead role, only for Bill Skarsgård and Danny Huston to take their place in the final cast. Through countless changes in directors, writers, and stars, the creative team repeatedly emphasized that the 2024 film is a new adaptation of the original 1989 graphic novel, not a remake of the Brandon Lee cult classic. However, fans of the comic might find themselves disappointed.

I am not the biggest expert on the Crow Expanded Universe, like many others, I came to the franchise through Alex Proyas’ 1994 film. Some think the story should rest out of respect for Lee, who tragically died due to a prop gun accident on set. However, I was curious to see a new take on James O’Barr’s dark saga. Unfortunately, maybe I shouldn’t have been.

The new movie features a boy named Eric and a girl named Shelly, crows, murders, and face paint. But beyond these surface elements, the reboot shares little with its predecessor or source material. The strange addition of a new demonic supervillain, Vincent Roeg, significantly alters the story.

In O’Barr’s original comics and the 1994 film, Eric and Shelly are wrong-place-wrong-time victims of random gang violence. Eric is resurrected by a magical crow to exact his revenge, a simple yet profound narrative channeling the pain O’Barr felt after losing his partner to a drunk driver. This story examined the brutality of random violence and how bad luck can turn life’s fairytales into tragedies.

The film’s aesthetics had a significant cultural impact, shaping goth and goth-adjacent subcultures. With its abundance of religious iconography and clear moral dichotomies, the world of “The Crow” depicted evil as a tangible entity needing punishment. Substituting a supernatural villain into this world might not seem catastrophic, but the character of Vincent Roeg is so poorly executed that it undermines the entire film.

The reboot’s plot involves Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA Twigs) who meet in rehab and escape together. Shelly is pursued by agents of demonic corporate kingpin Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston), who once used dark magic to compel her into murder. Roeg, having made a deal with the devil, must send “innocent” souls to Hell to maintain his immortality. Roeg’s henchmen kill Eric and Shelly, leading to Eric’s resurrection by a mystical figure named Kronos (Sami Bouajila), who promises to revive Shelly if Eric vanquishes Roeg.

This significant departure from the source material raises numerous questions. Why hasn’t Kronos previously resurrected other victims to defeat Roeg? Why is Shelly damned to Hell while Eric roams a CGI purgatory? Roeg’s inconsistent motives and the confusing introduction of symbolic lore only serve to muddle the story further.

Such over-complication distorts the original’s straightforward metaphor of love and vengeance. The film’s numerous fantastical elements make it feel like an early-2000s comic book movie, from distorted credit sequences to an inefficient, magical villain with his name absurdly plastered on a skyscraper.

In the climax, Roeg manipulates Eric, suggesting Shelly might no longer love him after his violent spree. By changing the villains from random gangsters to a demonic figure, it seemed the reboot aimed for profound statements. Yet, ideas about the imbalance of immortality are introduced only to be forgotten.

Even the afterlife rules are confusing. Why does Shelly go to Hell while Eric doesn’t, despite dying the same way? If Roeg’s victims go to Hell, does that not include Shelly, killed indirectly by Roeg? The movie creates heat but sheds no light on these questions, leaving viewers baffled.

Eric and Shelly’s fate seems haphazardly explained. Shelly’s damnation seems linked to a murder she committed under Roeg’s influence, yet Eric’s resurrection hinges on flawed logic about wavering love. By the end, “The Crow” fails to adhere even to its own convoluted mythology, making the film a perplexing experience.

While performances by Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs are commendable and the movie fares better than the “Crow” TV series, it ultimately misses the mark as a coherent and compelling reboot.