‘The Crow’ reboot is on its way to cinemas

Brandon Lee as ‘The Crow’ | Image: Dimension Films

The mere idea of trying to remake a commercial and cult hit of ‘The Crow’, which starred the late Brandon Lee, the son of legendary martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, is a real head-scratcher. 

And why so? Well, not a lot of people, especially the fans of that movie, and even more so the fans of Brandon Lee, would want to see a reboot or a remake of it, which said original “The Crow” is a classic in the 90s popular culture, by all regards.

We are talking about the Goth hero who represented a certain demographic of a generation, and that is Generation X. ‘The Crow’ was a movie ahead of its time in terms of its visuals, special effects, and cinematography. I, myself, remember getting to watch bits and portions of ‘The Crow’ at my cousin’s house back in the day, in the 90s. Although I cannot, for now, remember a specific scene, I do somehow recall how gloomy, dark, and “different” the movie came off to me because, at the time in my young life, I had never been exposed to a movie like ‘The Crow’. 

The funny thing is, on a related note, during that period, I would be watching WCW (World Championship Wrestling). Specifically, WCW Monday Nitro, when it would be shown on TCM in our part of the world late at night when I was still in grade school. It was a sacrifice for me at the time to stay up that late but certainly well worth the trouble, I felt, to watch WCW Monday Nitro because one of my favorite wrestlers was ‘Sting’ who, at that point in his career, adapted ‘The Crow-Sting’ persona, or a face paint, clothing, and style that closely resembled that of ‘The Crow’ starring the late Brandon Lee. That was in 1996 when I decided to revisit ‘The Crow’ and watch it in its entirety after having been reminded of a specific wrestler “Sting” in WCW who dressed like ‘The Crow’.

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So, this became an untraditional way of my getting exposed to the original ‘The Crow’ movie because had I not been a fan of wrestling and watching it on television, then I would not have remembered that a few years previously, there was an onscreen movie character in a movie that closely resembled how ‘Sting’ of WCW was dressed up like “The Crow” which then enticed me to finally watch the said film in its entirety! 

Everyone in my age group who watched WCW and got to watch ‘The Crow’ knows exactly what I am talking about here. ‘The Crow’ and ‘Sting’ sometimes felt like one persona because they looked so alike. There is no mistaking that it was the late Brandon Lee as ‘The Crow’ who had popularized the current get-up of “Sting” as a whole.

Now, back to the present time–the here and the now. This time, about the upcoming ‘The Crow’ reboot.

The Crow | Image: Miramax Films

I find it surprising that they are doing a ‘The Crow’ movie in this day and age because the original ‘The Crow’ very much so belonged to a specific and special time. It was a key movie of the 90s because in that era, superheroes, or rather, dark superheroes and not anti-heroes, were the trend. Bear in mind, the original ‘The Crow’ was one of a kind and this movie was the one that helped kickstart this trend in the mainstream scene of Hollywood. 

I believe the movie studio has made the right choice, or closest to what would be the best choice, in terms of who could portray ‘The Crow’ for the reboot. Bill Skarsgard would have been someone the producers zeroed on, in their shortlist of casting choices, based on the criterion of superb acting skills. I do not see a lot of actors who are in that stratosphere who can portray a wide range of personalities on the big screen. So, Bill Skarsgard had to be the logical choice. I mean, the talented actor portrayed “Pennywise” as the evil clown in the ‘IT’ movies! That fact alone means he has the range in him to be possibly anyone he has to be on the big screen. So, naturally, to become a supernatural hero “The Crow” would be no stretch at all for Bill Skarsgard.

Although, upon viewing the officially released teaser images of Bill Skarsgard as “The Crow”, they do remind of me how Jared Leto looked as the “Joker” in ‘Suicide Squad’ because of the tattoos, wardrobe, and even the choice of makeup on his face are very close to it. I am beginning to wonder: Did they get the same teams of make-up artists and costume designers of “Joker” for ‘The Crow’?

Furthermore, Bill Skarsgard as “The Crow” does not look like someone who is part of the Goth scene, but he looks more like one who belongs to the Punk scene. This makes me think the movie studio is doing a nearly complete reimagining of “The Crow’s” origins and not staying too close to the original movie’s backstory which I feel should have been the only way to go since they have chosen to go the reboot route and not a sequel or worse, a prequel of it. 

Either way, I wish ‘The Crow’ remake a big success because at least the movie’s on-screen character is different enough from everything else that is being churned out and developed nowadays in superhero-themed movies. And 2024 is the best time to put this out because more moviegoers want a refreshing change from what they are already watching on the big screen when it comes to their superhero-themed movies.

Trust me, ‘The Crow’, well, the original one portrayed by the late Brandon Lee, was a particularly special time capsule of a movie that resulted in it becoming hugely popular so quickly because it was unlike any other movie at the time. 

I do hope the same can be said when ‘The Crow’ reboot starring Bill Skarsgard is released.