The Crow: City of Angels

Quite the drop off. I wasn't totally and utterly bored with <em>'The Crow: City of Angels'</em>, the short 85 minute run time helps, but everything about it is extremely forgettable. This sequel to 1994's <em>'The Crow'</em> fails to recapture anything that the original flick did so impressively, the whole vibe of this one just feels like a watered down rehash of what came prior. Mia Kirshner is the pick of the cast, she doesn't get much to work with but is still someone I was at least a tiny bit interested in onscreen. Vincent Perez isn't terrible, though there isn't really anything to praise about his performance. Elsewhere, Iggy Pop gives a wooden showing - though at least looked like he was having a blast doing so. Hopefully the other two sequels improved upon this.

This sequel to the film that starred the late Brandon Lee is not well liked, but I think it is watchable. The story is much like the first film with a few changes that I'll talk about in a moment. Vincent Perez plays Ashe Corven, a mechanic who is resurrected to take his revenge on some murderers that kill him and his young son. The thugs exist in a sleezy, darkly lit world and they are brutal characters who are selling drugs and just seem like the worst human beings you'll meet. I mean, that's how these gritty comic book movies are (even the recent version of The Batman has reverted to this). There are a couple of things that I thought stood out this time. The nighttime photography was really well done, especially during one particular motorcycle chase. This version of L.A. is as strange and gothic as the comic book movies like Batman and The Crow, but it's bathed in yellow street lights which makes it feel otherworldly. I also liked Mia Kirshner as the beautiful goth girl. She's supposed to be Sarah from the first movie all grown up. In this story she tries to explain to Ashe what is going on and she ends up being the damsel in later scenes, but giving Ashe someone to confide in and talk to a bit one improvement over the original.. I think Kirshner and Perez maked an appealing tragic duo (even if they aren't really a romantic couple) so taking them into consideration along with the cool photography, I'll say this is watchable.