The Crow: City of Angels (1996)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Tim Pope

Writers (WGA):

James O'Barr (comic book series and comic strip)
David S. Goyer (written by)

Release Date:

30 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

There will be another.

Plot:

Some time ago, Ashe Corven and his son Danny were killed when they stumbled across a pack of drug dealers murdering a fellow dealer...

Plot Keywords:

Crow | The Crow | Revenge | Murder | Drugs

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Vincent Perez	...	Ashe Corven / The Crow
Mia Kirshner	...	Sarah
Richard Brooks	...	Judah Earl
Iggy Pop	...	Curve
Thomas Jane	...	Nemo
Vincent Castellanos	...	Spider Monkey
Thuy Trang	...	Kali
Eric Acosta	...	Danny
Ian Dury	...	Noah
Tracey Ellis	...	Sybil
Beverley Mitchell	...	Grace
Aaron Thell Smith	...	Tattoo Customer
Alan Gelfant	...	Bassett
Shelly Desai	...	Hindu
Holley Chant	...	Holly Daze

Also Known As:

The Crow II

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, drug content, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34831) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | Iceland:16 | Brazil:16 | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:16 (VHS/DVD rating) | South Korea:18 | France:-12 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bad Bird Productions

Trivia:

Jon Bon Jovi auditioned for the lead role.

Goofs:

Continuity: When it shows the strip booth, the counter starts at 65, counts down to 62, then jumps back to 69.

Quotes:

Danny: If you give up now, we won't be together.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter David Goyer (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Believe in Angels

"Wrong place, at the wrong time"

I adore the original film that starred Brandon Lee as the avenging angel brought back from the dead. Now a sequel was probably inevitable, and I remember being largely disappointed by it with its wearily cut-up story, dour performances and diluted action. Well nothing has changed the second time around. Again I can't knock that killer hard-rock / industrial sounding soundtrack, haunting score and the dark, Gothic embellishment creating an atmospherically catastrophe post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. It's dirty, smoggy and jarringly bleak. Jean Yves Escoffier's cinematography lenses it with the right free-spirited. However there's nothing overly memorable, or even powerfully gripping to draw any real emotion and interest form the suffocatingly drab and unimaginative narrative. By following the same patterns of the original's tragedy, it doesn't lay any new groundwork. It was a tediously repetitive mess that seemed more fantasy-based and conjures up a script that's weakly penned. Vincent Perez's avenging soul is unconvincingly void in a tortured performance, which doesn't create much heart-ache or grace. There's no imprint, or witty charisma that Lee evoked. Honestly I didn't feel anything. Richard Brooks flimsily strolls by with no impressionable stance as the head villain. Mia Kirshner gives a sound performance and Iggy Pop delightfully chews up the scenery to spit it out. Director Tim Pope can formulate some flourishing visuals and lasting poses, but when it came to setting everything in motion. Flat and unexciting comes to mind. His action set-pieces lacked zest and seemed to plod like they're sliced up music video clips. Never did it infuse any real sense of energy, thrills and urgency. In the end it feels just like a cheap, quick and empty rehash.