The Crow - City of Angels (Collector's Series)
by Tim Pope
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Actor: Iggy Pop, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Thomas Jane, Vincent PerezDirector: Tim Pope
Producer: Alessandro Camon
Producer: Bob Weinstein
Producer: Edward R. Pressman
Producer: Gregory G. Woertz
Producer: Harvey Weinstein
Writer: David S. Goyer
Writer: James O'Barr
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 84 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-03-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Dimension
DVD Reviews of The Crow - City of Angels (Collector's Series)
DVD Review: Pretty much torpedoed the Crow franchise, but it's really not that bad
Summary: 3 Stars
As a fan of Eric Proyas "The Crow" (1994) and James O'Barr's graphic novel I was somewhat hesitant to view the follow-up, especially since it received such poor reviews. I didn't want my enjoyment of the first film to be tarnished by a mediocre sequel, but I figured, "what the heck" and went ahead and rented it. While at first I considered Tim Pope's "The Crow: City of Angels" (1996) to be a huge disappointment, especially when one compares it to the original, in all honesty, it's not that bad of a film and it has its redeeming qualities.
The cinematography is somewhat of a mixed-bag. While the original film was dark and bleak, it was done with elegance and style, "City of Angels," by contrast with its intrusive soundtrack and heavy-handed glumness, can come across as cartoonish--like a B horror movie or a Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie video. Still, the post-apocalyptic vision of the future with its barren, hopeless, filthy landscape is captivating.
While the plot is essentially just a rehash of the first movie, except a father/son are the murdered victims instead of a couple, the father's devotion is touching. The gang of bad guys (with the exception of Iggy Pop) are mostly mostly faceless, although the chief bad guy, (some bald dude) with his narcissistic, psychopathic personality is kind of interesting. The ending is somewhat confusing and disappointing, with the main villain taking away all of the Crow's power only to be overtaken by a flock of crows? Huh? Although the last scene, with the Crow and his son going to "a better place" is good way to conclude the film.
As for the character of the Crow himself , while Brandon Lee's character was funny, savage and human, Vincent Perez (as Ash) in this film comes across as a soap opera actor, a good lucking guy with a wooden delivery going through the motions. Mia Kirshner, the Crow's love interest, serves no real purpose to the storyline and her death at the end is entirely pointless to the narrative.
"City of Angles" best character is Iggy Pop, as the vile thug "Curve" and is easily as good as "Tin Tin" or "Funboy" from the original movie. I also enjoyed the scenes of the Crow (the actual bird, not Perez) in flight--some very cool cinematography there.
A commercial and critical failure, "The Crow: City of Angels" pretty much torpedoed the Crow franchise, with next few movies going straight-to-video. Still, this film isn't bad and while obviously not the original, is worth renting if you liked the fist movie.
DVD Review: Crow 2- much of the same
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is really good. However, it tries to hard to be like the original Crow. The similarities make it feel more like a remake than a sequel. For an interesting twist and a good solid sequel you should buy; "The Crow; Salvation". But if you are like me and you want the whole collection it is still a good watch.DVD Review: "Does The Corpse Have A Familiar Face?"
Summary: 1 Stars
More of a remake than a sequel, "The Crow: City Of Angels" attempts to capitalize on the cult phenomenon of it's predecessor by basically repeating and rehashing it's basic premise without actually adding anything new or of merit. This time around, instead of Detroit, it's a decaying Los Angeles -- populated by set-pieces that look like they could be destroyed by a stiff breeze -- and Vincent Perez is summoned from the dead to avenge the death of his son and himself at the hands of a gang, with the help of Sarah (Mia Kirshner), who may or may not be the same Sarah from the first movie. Music video director Tim Pope, who hasn't done anything worthwhile since, gives this film a definite mid-90's look. Truth be told, not only does the movie look low-budget and meant for direct-to-video release, but also looks like something you would catch on HBO at three in the morning during a weekday. As hard as the script tries -- which, come to think of it, it doesn't -- it just can't match the potency of the original. Instead of getting to know our main characters and building the required backstory with the tragic elements needed, the exposition is handled in such a careless way. It seems like they wanted to get the story out of the way so they could get straight to the violence. A father avenging the murder of his own child? Should have had a little more emotional impact than what was actually presented in the movie. The actors all pretty much ham it up, although punk icon Iggy Pop manages to keep the audience from falling asleep, while his co-star, Thuy "Yellow Ranger" Trang, is at the very least, an interesting presence in a movie such as this. On all accounts, "The Crow: City Of Angels" is and was a complete and utter failure, dooming the rest of the franchise into direct-to-video Hell. Ironic, since the movies that came after it were actually, gulp, better.DVD Review: Falls Short of the Original Crow
Summary: 4 Stars
If this movie had been the first in the Crow series, then its likely that more movie fans would have liked it. However, there was a first Crow movie starring the late Brandon Lee and its to that first movie that this Crow and the other Crow sequels are compared to. On those grounds, this Crow merits no more than a 4 out of 5 rating.
Let's face it, Vincent Perez is not a good substitute for Brandon Lee. The first 15 minutes of this movie were incomprehensible and had little to do with the rest of the movie.
However, there are some redeeming factors to this movie namely the music and the cinematography. Add in a script that has a strong second half, and you have a movie that is worth a rental at least.
DVD Review: Good, not great.
Summary: 3 Stars
Seeing The Crow flash across the screen again was something I wasn't sure I'd be able to experience again after the tragic misfortunes of the first Crow movie. I've heard it said that one of the crew members on the first movie actually thought it was cursed.
But this second movie, which is based around a new Crow (Vincent Perez) and the returning Sarah from the first movie (played in this one by the beautiful and dark Mia Kirshner) wasn't cursed like the first one, the curse this had was that it was a sequel to something that likely didn't need one. Although I enjoyed the dark circumstances that surrounded the actual onscreen play, with the nod to "La Dia De los Muertos" (The Day Of The Dead) being my favorite, the story about a murdered father who returns to avenge his son, to me, takes away from the romantic overtones of the first movie and the Crow comic book overall.
The original story was written by James O'Barr to help him exorcize the demons he lived with after losing his first love early in life and he's made mention that in truth, the Crows story was told then, and in his eyes had been told completely. But as with all things we find interesting or fall in love with, it was decided that there needed to be more, so they made more.
I kind of doubt Brandon Lee would have come back for the sequel if he'd lived as I'm sure he would have felt, as O'Barr did, that Eric Dravens story had been told. I make a few leaps here, making mention of things James has said to me and maybe a little of what I hope Brandon Lee would have done had he survived the accident that took his life, but I make them with the best intentions.
I enjoyed the movie, being a comic book geek, I was sure I would. I have to admit to having felt a little betrayed when the sequel came out, just as I was when the ensuing comic follow-ups came out, but the Crow has become an avenger of wrongs that couldn't be put right any other way, a dark hero to the masses who suffer and have no way to let that out other than to dream of a hero who would go beyond death to right their wrongs and although Eric and Shelleys story was told to completion, there are more stories to tell. This is one of them. There are others, there will be others, likely as many as there are people with stories of their own, because truly, who among us doesn't feel the need at some point in our lives to be avenged?
See the movie, be forewarned that it contains violence in the extreme, some nudity and a lot of what might be termed "the darker aspects of life", drugs, gangs, betrayels, S&M and torture. Iggy Pop, though not great either, was a welcome touch of dark realism to the play on the screen. If you go in with no expectations based on the first movie or the comic book, this 3 stars quickly becomes 3 1/2 or 4.
Description of The Crow - City of Angels (Collector's Series)
This action-packed sequel to THE CROW explodes on screen with hot new stars Vincent Perez (I DREAMED OF AFRICA) and sexy Mia Kirshner! After a brutal attack by an evil drug cartel, the murder victim (Perez) is brought back to life by a mysterious crow. With the help of a beautiful woman named Sarah (Kirshner), he exacts revenge on his killers one by one ... only to realize his enemy, the lethal Judah, has discovered the one weakness that can destroy him forever!Because of his tragic death on the set of The Crow, we'll never know if Brandon Lee would have turned one successful film into a popular series. But one look at this tepid sequel suggests that not even the charismatic Lee could have rescued The Crow movies from the burden of a lackluster screenplay. Based on the popular comic books by James O'Barr, this sequel finds Vincent P?rez as a man named Ashe, who is murdered along with his young son by a gang of drug-running thugs under the employ of slimy kingpin Judah Earl (Richard Brooks). Ashe is resurrected with the help of a tattoo artist named Sarah (Mia Kirschner), whereupon he begins a campaign of revenge against his killers. More a rehash than a sequel, the film repeats the grungy, dark look of urban decay from The Crow, but its combination of violence, heavy-handed symbolism, and tacky sentiment make this a film strictly for nihilistic teens. Then again, no movie in which veteran punkster Iggy Pop plays a sleazeball can be considered a total loss. --Jeff Shannon
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