The Crow: City of Angels (1996) Review:

When original films go down as a classic of its own, it is usually, if not always very hard for a sequel to ever reach the same status. The Crow (1994) was a special project for many who worked on it, mostly because of the unfortunate death of star Brandon Lee from a fatal gunshot. While the film did make enough money and gained quite the following, studios wanted to continue making films about the character. Thankfully, they decided to focus on a new character who obtains the supernatural powers instead of trying to continue the original. In some ways, this works out. In other ways, not so much. This kind of uphill battle should be expected, but for what was done, it's obvious effort was put in. Viewers just have to remember that.

Do I look like Eric Draven?

The story is about a new unlikely hero by the name of Ash Corven (Vincent Perez), a father who is killed along with his son after they witness a gang murder. Only to be revived by the mystical crow, and then seek revenge on the gang who ruined his life. The person who stumbles upon Corven is Sarah (Mia Kirshner), a local tattoo artist who's been having dreams about him. The script was written by up and coming comic book writer David S. Goyer. While the film itself had much studio interference by the time it was released, what was left of Goyer's script is doable to some degree. What doesn't make sense however is the backgrounds to the characters aside from Corven. The film was directed by Tim Pope, who would have this theatrical film only to his credit.

Supporting characters to this feature more or less get the ax here. Sarah's dreams are not explained nor is she given much of a backstory and how she connects to Corven. The gang who murder Corven, is led by Judah Earl (Richard Brooks) and consists of Curve (Iggy Pop), Nemo (Thomas Jane), Spider Monkey (Vincent Castellanos) and Kali (Thuy Trang). They too don't receive much development aside from being shown that they killed Corven and his son. Judah's motives especially aren't the clearest. He wants to have the crow's powers, but it's not explained as to why he developed such a goal. Along with that, the lore and how the rules for the crow work seem to not be as transparent this time. It's understood that the crow is the weak point of the powers, however that doesn't explain if this power exists only in one crow or all of them. The acting for the most part is acceptable.

Vincent Perez as the new crow is fairly believable. His attitude towards his enemies is about as likeable as Brandon Lee's performance and his looks aren't too far off either. Perez for the most part has remained in the foreign film industry. Mia Kirshner is alright, but without her backstory it's not as strong. Kirshner would go on to star in films like Cowboys and Angels (2000) and The Black Dahlia (2006). Richard Brooks is interesting to watch, mainly because he goes from rather soft spoken to over the top energetic, it's off putting but kind of funny. Brooks has remained more a TV actor since. Iggy Pop is,...well Iggy Pop, known for his musical career. Thomas Jane is well known for what he would go onto to play in Marvel's second attempt in The Punisher (2004) and other films. Vincent Castellanos stopped acting no long after and Thuy Trang unfortunately died shortly after. There's even an appearance from Beverley Mitchell.

Mia Kirshner

As for visuals go, the action is fairly entertaining. While much of the film is in this monochrome sepia tone tint, it works in its favor. There's several shoot outs and fist fights. Some of which can get rather bloody and it entertains. The cinematography was handled by Jean-Yves Escoffier, who also worked on Dream Lover (1993) and 15 Minutes (2001). For what Escoffier shows, it captures several areas of the urban landscape involving buildings and rooms. Never has so much trash been a part of a city. Lastly, Graeme Revell returns as the composer to this and he mostly keeps all the feeling intact. While Revell does resurrect a theme from the original film, the rest features beating drums and spiritual sounding music. That's a great thing.

The story is not as emotionally hard hitting like the original, but the actors try. The problem lies in the script with very little backstory to the supporting characters and the lore behind the crow. However, the music, cinematography and action still entertains. It's a watchable sequel.

Points Earned --> 6:10