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Now, on to the elephant in the rom: The Crow star Brandon Lee. Son of the legendary Martial Arts star, Bruce Lee, The Crow was Brandon Lee's last film. With a mishap on set, Lee was killed during a scene by a gun that was supposed to be shooting blanks. The footage was never developed and promptly destroyed. With a few scenes involving Lee left to be filmed, they were achieved by body doubles shot from the back as well as computer-altered and digitally composited images of Lee’s face (quite the feat for the mid-‘90s). Having the presence to be an action star, Lee’s clear passion and soulfulness he brought to the role immediately elevated the movie from a basic revenge saga to something more (especially comparing his performance to the cardboard villains).

Released by Miramax, The Crow was the first time that the studio found mainstream success outside of one of its art house picture comfort zone. The Crow was Miramax’s widest release and biggest opening weekend success yet, reaching number one the opening weekend of May 13th-15th. Out of the gate with a big $11.7 million weekend against a speculated $15 million budget, Miramax immediately added an additional 546 theaters the second weekend on top of the initial 1,573 venues. With low declines and spectacular word-of-mouth, The Crow wounded up with $50.7 million ($95.3 million adjusted) when all was said and done. That's quite spectacular for a movie with a hard R-rating, no star power, a small source following, and everything else considered.

Quick to cash in by casting a new hero for the magical Crow to resurrect, 1996’s The Crow: City of Angels, could not even finish with double the original’s opening weekend. Two years later, The Crow resurrected itself on Canadian TV yet couldn’t make it past season one. Brought back to life in 2000 by Eric Mabius and Kirsten Dunst, due to horrible test screenings, the film went direct-to-video. A 2005 effort followed a similar path.

Needing a magical crow to breathe theatrical life back to this franchise with a current messy legal battle, I don’t think that The Crow would do all that well today. While the film holds up, I don’t think the audience would be big enough to care. Dark action movies have become a certain norm (just look at this weekend’s Priest) and with a revenge-driven C-list comic book character, I doubt it would stand out from the crowd. However, the original film still has a certain charm that makes it playable to today's audiences. With more humor than you’d think and a daring style, only a newbie director working on a shoestring budget could possibly attempt without studio interference, The Crow is worth checking out. Mixing smarts with popcorn fun, The Crow effortlessly takes flight.

Verdict: With Us
7 out of 10

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