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I love the summer movie season. While fall is for the auteur projects, winter is for the family-friendly comedies, and spring is a hodgepodge of films, the summer is just turn-your-brain-off fun. And you know what? I have no problem with that. For every Black Swan, I will gladly take another Transformers (my second most anticipated movie of the sunny season after a certain boy wizard). Predicting which one of the big-budget tentpoles will fail (Mr. Popper’s Penguins and the hideously-titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and surprise (Super 8 and Bad Teacher) is always more fun than filling out an Oscar ballot.

Now, with a lot to look forward to, Hollywood is allowing audiences to catch their breath this weekend with the release of Bridesmaids (a must-see; it is absolutely hilarious) and Priest. Some of the lesser-caliber films in terms of studio investment, it is not surprising to see comedies or B-action flicks to be put in this frame like the comic book adapted Priest. Studio moguls don’t like their product playing second fiddle so the second weekend of May is used as a martyr, taking the brunt of the big summer kick-off film aftershock that jolts audiences back into a popcorn-flick mood.

Like Priest, 17 years ago this weekend, another low-level comic book superhero entered the summer fray – The Crow. Never having seen the original until now, my interest was piqued when the film turned into a rather hot property with Bradley Cooper rumored to reboot the franchise until some nasty legal entanglements arose.

Not knowing what to expect, I was intrigued while watching The Crow. With a color palette so dark and monochromatic, it looks like the film was shot in black-and-white (actually director Alex Proyas’s intention before the studio quickly nixed the idea), and a grim opening, The Crow definitely flew into theaters before its time. With the titular hero being a musician (Brandon Lee) resurrected from the dead by a crow to seek vengeance on a group of psychotic criminals who raped his girlfriend and brutally murdered the both of them, this wasn’t exactly your typical superhero pic at the time.

Darkly themed superhero movies are the rage nowadays, but in the ‘90s, a more adult-skewing comic book adaptation was a relatively new concept. The Crow’s rave response (it is 83% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) started motioning things in a new direction with more adult comic book adaptations taking place (ie. Spawn and Blade).

Alex Proyas, one of the most stylistic directors around, does a fantastic job, bringing the world of The Crow to life. Enjoying his unlimited vision, as seen in Dark City, and his control of suspense with Knowing (love it or hate it, I am in the former camp), The Crow was Proyas’s first Hollywood feature film, which makes this effort all the more impressive. I was worried at first that the darkness and shadows in the film would lower my visibility of what is going on. However, Proyas expertly handles the lack of lighting with an assortment of angles for a unique look. Also, the intensely choreographed fighting sequences, shot in such a style, make the film certainly rank up there with us. The Crow reminds me of an ideal version of the abysmal franchise attempts for The Punisher.

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