‘The Crow’ Remake Faces Harsh Criticism from Critics

Bill Skarsgård’s The Crow, a long-anticipated remake of the late Brandon Lee’s supernatural thriller, is facing tough criticism from reviewers.

Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, tragically passed away on the set of the 1994 version of The Crow, as reported by Variety.

Back in 1994, Lee starred as Eric Draven, a man murdered alongside his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) the night before their wedding. One year later, Eric rises from the grave to become a supernatural avenger known as The Crow.

Thirty years later, Skarsgård, known for his role as Pennywise the Clown in IT, takes on the role of Eric in what studio Lionsgate describes as a “reimagining” of James Barr’s 1989 comic book. Directed by Rupert Sanders, known for his work on Snow White and the Huntsman, this new version of The Crow hits theaters Friday.

The plot summary for the new The Crow reads, “Soulmates Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.”

As the film nears its release, Rotten Tomatoes critics have given the remake a measly rating of 23% “rotten” based on 35 reviews. The Audience Score from RT readers has yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, Metacritic rates the film poorly as well, currently scoring 29 out of 100 based on 18 reviews.

What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘The Crow’?

Among the Rotten Tomatoes critics, William Bibbiani of The Wrap criticizes the film’s storyline, writing, “When you stifle the emotional simplicity of a story like The Crow to emphasize the plot, the plot had better make sense. And it doesn’t. It’s got perplexing rules and a vague chronology and nothing seems like it matters anymore.”

Shirley Li from The Atlantic suggests that Rupert Sanders’ take on The Crow is underwhelming, stating, “The original Crow is by no means a perfect film — its dialogue is often corny, its sentimentality heavy-handed — and I don’t believe the comics are so sacred that they can never be adapted again. But Sanders’ vision is just dull.”

David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter describes the movie as a “sluggish, overly self-serious gloomfest that never takes wing,” while Rolling Stone’s David Fear notes, “It doesn’t take long to realize that what was meant to be a franchise-starter is, unlike its hero, permanently DOA.”

Not every review is negative. Mark Kennedy from Associated Press gave the film a positive review, writing, “The Crow isn’t bad — and it gets better as it goes — but it’s an exercise in folly. It cannot escape Lee and the 1994 original even as it builds a more allegorical scaffolding for the smartphone generation.”

Rated R, The Crow opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.