It's hard to deny that the new rendition of the The Crow murder & revenge story is not stylish. The tattoos, the dark lights, the janky spaces - all of it fits into The Crow's neo-gothic iconography. However, in the clash of style versus substance, director Rupert Sanders found very little substance. Because of that, the result is a bland retelling of the film that back in 1994 had so many macabre vibes going for it, even though a bit of that came from the tragedy of Brandon Lee's death.
In the 2024 version, yes, there is a lot of fictional, violent death as well and loads of goth visuals too (not on the level of the brilliant Nosferatu, but still sufficient). But, the chemistry that should either bind characters in eternal love or place them on a path of bloody vengeance is missing. Bill Skarsgård does well as the torn Eric but fails to get it on with FKA twigs. Danny Huston is always interesting to watch, but as the main antagonist, he simply fails to make his character have the kinetic force of evil that is needed here.
Sanders is by no means an inexperienced director, but with The Crow, so much stuff simply falls through the metal mesh floor that should have been the film's foundation. I'm certain that the same foundation in this case has to be the characters, but there's just too much room between all of them, allowing for so much void space. The same sense of pretty emptiness is what the film ends up providing to its viewers.
