The Crow: City of Angels

Starring: Vincent Price, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Iggy Pop, Thomas Jane, Vincent Castellanos, Beverly Mitchell
Directed by: Tim Pope
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Thriller
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Vincent Price) is resurrected by the Crow to get vengeance for his murdered son.

Review:

Tim: I was pretty upfront that I was not the biggest fan of The Crow. While that movie was deeply flawed and overrated, it was at least a decent attempt. The same cannot be said for The Crow: City of Angels. For all the faults with the first film, it at least got somewhat close to what it was trying to achieve. This sequel is a giant mess. It's a boring film that does not engage the audience in any meaningful way. The story is bare bones and told in a frantic, ridiculous pace. I really, really disliked this film.

One of the major issues I had with this film is that it felt like a complete rehash of the original. From the opening scene, I felt like I'd seen this all before and didn't especially like it the first time around. I have yet to understand why this movie needed to exist. It has nothing to say. The best sequels continue and advance the story. This one does neither. It treads down the exact same path.

I was a little harsh on Brandon Lee's performance in The Crow. It was okay, but not especially good. Compared to Vincent Price, though, Lee was spectacular. Price has no charisma, nothing especially interesting or exciting about him. I didn't care about his character for a moment. He was far too bland. The rest of the cast seemed to be either going through the motions or exceedingly overacting in every scene. There wasn't a lot to get excited about in this department.

I really do not understand how anyone could find this film enthralling. The Crow resurrects a guy and makes him completely invincible. So, for the majority of the film, we're watching an invincible guy kill bad guys. Where is the fun in that? There's no danger, no suspense. The first film had the same issue. In this film, they eventually (SPOILER ALERT)- capture and kill the Crow. First off, the capture scene is one of the worst examples of lazy writing I have ever seen. The Crow flies into the tower thing (why I can't remember) and then happens to land in the exact spot where a hanging cage falls and traps it. The cage had a span of about a foot and a half, so the bad guys are INCREDIBLY lucky the crow happened to pick that exact spot to land down. This is one exactly of terrible, lazy writing that ruins this movie from the outset.

This movie was the only feature film Tim Pope ever directed, and thank your lucky stars for that. The guy was a music video director and unfortunately, he took that approach to this film. It's like watching an incomprehensible, 84 minute MTV music video. Trust me, it is not good.

I suppose there is some value in the basic premise. The idea of a Crow resurrecting victims for vengeance is somewhat appealing. However, any potential this film had was just completely squandered by everyone involved. I didn't especially like the first movie and I really, really dislike The Crow: City of Angels. This movie should not be viewed. Save yourself the time and energy.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Crow