Summary
- The Crow 2024’s slow origin storytelling drags the movie down, making it feel boring and uninteresting to viewers.
- Lack of stylistic elements in The Crow 2024 compared to its iconic 1994 predecessor is a major flaw in the remake.
- The performances in The Crow 2024 fall flat, with wooden acting and poor chemistry among the cast failing to engage the audience.
2024’s The Crow movie has been received incredibly poorly, and here are 10 reasons why the film’s reviews have been so miserable. On top of The Crow being a box office failure, the 2024 franchise revival has also failed to be a hit with fans or critics, with many viewers pointing out all kinds of flaws. A variety of criticisms have been levied at the film, and for those wondering why the reception of The Crow has been so bad, these are the 10 most commonly recurring points when discussing the failures of the 2024 movie.
2024’s The Crow attempts to retell the story of the iconic graphic novel, with it pulling from the source material as well as the beloved 1994 The Crow movie adaptation. 1994’s The Crow has a massive fanbase, with it being considered one of the best comic book adaptations of the decade. Because of this, there was a lot of concern from fans when the idea of 2024’s The Crow reimagining was being discussed, and as it turns out, these concerns were valid (according to reviews).
10 The Crow 2024 Spends Too Much Time On The Origin
“Were this a brisk 90 minutes, it might have been fine, but between the convoluted character backstories and the meandering plot, it was just boring.” – Kevin Carr, Fat Guys at the Movies
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2024’s The Crow attempted to tell a similar story to the original graphic novel and movie, although it did expand on the origin of the titular superhero. While most versions of The Crow have Eric and Shelly get murdered rather quickly, the 2024 movie spends a lot more time on their relationship. This shift in focus didn’t really work, and while it seems like it’s finally time for classic The Crow action upon their deaths, it takes even longer before Eric dons the iconic makeup that the character is so associated with.
This decision could have worked if handled differently, but the way that it is played out in the film, it makes it seem as if the first act of The Crow takes up the vast majority of the movie. It completely throws off the rhythm of the classic The Crow story, and since the relationship between Eric and Shelly wasn’t all that interesting, it makes this new take on the origin a huge mistake.
Related Why The Crow’s Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Is So Much Higher Than The Critics Rating
2024’s The Crow has a terrible critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes so far, but its audience score is a lot higher, though still not great.
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9 The Remake Isn’t As Stylistic As The Original
“While it does have good performances and a decent visual language, a clumsy script and inevitable comparisons to the original doom it on arrival.” – Doug Walker, Channel Awesome
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While the story of The Crow is great, the real reason that the franchise stands out is because of its style. The style of 1994’s The Crow is the most memorable part of the movie, with the goth tone, music, and visual flair making it one of the best examples of 1990s edge. Although the 1994 film is in live-action, its style manages to make it feel like the original comics, even if there are a lot of changes.
Unfortunately, 2024’s The Crow remake isn’t nearly as stylistic as its predecessor, with this being one of the movie’s biggest flaws. The direction, cinematography, editing, and music make The Crow feel much more like a bland superhero blockbuster, with it not standing out at all. While there are some nice moments, such as the bloody scene that plays during the titlecards, the lack of style is a huge problem in 2024’s The Crow.
8 The Performances Aren’t Great
“The Crow is a dreadful new take on the comic book character that is drab to look at, horribly written, filled with wooden performances, and fails to make the goth-drenched anti-hero look and feel cool in this day and age.” – Jack Martin, Film Feeder
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2024’s The Crow has a talented cast, with Bill Skarsgård taking on the titular role and Danny Huston playing the villain, while musician FKA Twigs plays Shelly. It is possible that all of these actors could have given incredible performances in 2024’s The Crow, as they have all done so in other places. However, they just don’t work here, with their deliveries ranging from bland to bad.
The chemistry between Skarsgård and FKA Twigs just isn’t there, which is a problem considering that 2024’s The Crow tried to give their relationship an even greater focus than the previous film. Skarsgård’s accent is inconsistent throughout, Huston’s performance is campy, and it is hard for anyone to deliver the corny lines in the serious tone that the film tries to maintain. Thus, none of the actors are able to live up to the performances seen in 1994’s The Crow.
Related All The Crow Movies, Ranked Worst To Best
The Crow movie franchise began back in 1994 and here’s all four entries ranked from worst to best; the films are based on the cult graphic novel.
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7 The Crow 2024’s Writing Needs Work
“It drags through a slow love story, lacks the original’s dark, gritty atmosphere, and misses the intensity that made the 1994 film a cult classic.” – Alan Ng, Film Threat
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The writing is another major problem in The Crow 2024, as it needed some serious work before the film was made. 2024’s The Crow is full of nonsensical dialogue and poorly written lines, with it being near-impossible for the actors to deliver some of these reads in a convincing way. The film isn’t stylistic enough to make a weirder writing style work, which is the only thing that could have saved this dialogue.
Writing is more than dialogue, however, and the failures of The Crow 2024 can also be seen in its story. The pacing is all off, the character arcs feel incomplete, and some storylines just don’t make sense, such as when Eric and Shelly easily escape a rehabilitation institution without it ever again coming up in the story. Theoritacly some of these writing choices could have worked, but The Crow 2024 unfortunately doesn’t manage to pull them off.
6 The Pacing Is Too Slow
“The weak pacing and character development don’t support the film’s clever ideas.” – Korey Coleman, Double Toasted
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Another major problem with 2024’s The Crow adaptation is that the pacing is way too slow, making the entire film drag on. The choice to not have Eric fully become The Crow until well into the film makes the first half of the movie feel as if it never escapes the first act. Fans of The Crow already know what is going to happen, and since most viewers are there to see the superhero action, the decision to hold off on Eric’s transformation makes the first section of the movie feel like it is moving at the pace of a snail.
Elements of The Crow‘s mystery are drip-fed to the audience far too slowly as well, with a fairly simple plot getting stretched out over nearly two hours. Some reviewers have even claimed that the runtime could have been cut down, with a tightening of the film’s pacing being one of the best choices that the movie could have made.
5 The Visuals Are Bland
“There’s about 20 minutes where the movie comes to life, but most of the time, this is a drab, unengaging new version of the story.” – Eric Goldman, YouTube
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Another major problem with 2024’s The Crow is that the film is visually bland. Nothing in the movie is shot particularly well, with things like the lighting and shot composition not standing out from other blockbuster movies. Since The Crow 1994 was oozing with style, not going all in on an interesting visual identity for 2024’s The Crow was a massive mistake.
The only exception to this is the action scenes, which do boast some fairly impressive camera work. The fight scene that is set in a car and the fight scene at the opera are the best two parts of the movie, and that is because the camerawork and lighting clearly got an upgrade in these sections. Unfortunately, these action scenes are few and far between, with most of the movie’s shots not leaving a lasting impression.
Related The Crow 2024 Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play
The Crow 2024 has a soundtrack with FKA twigs, Enya, and more to help set the film’s gothic mood. Here’s every song and when they play in the movie.
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4 Most Of The Movie Isn’t As Good As The Third Act
“It does get a third-act boost from a gloriously violent and savagely gory opera house scene that is expertly shot, edited, and choreographed.” – Keith Garlington, Keith & the Movies
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2024’s The Crow may take a while to get there, but it does eventually pay off in the third act. The aforementioned opera action scene is almost universally being praised as the best part of the movie, with it being the first time that the film fully delivers on its promise of gory, edgy, stylistic action. This is sure to be the part that viewers remember when they are leaving the theater, but unfortunately, nothing else in the movie is nearly as good.
It takes forever to get to The Crow‘s exciting third act, and there isn’t much to cling on to while waiting for the final few action scenes. The aforementioned slow pace, boring dialogue, and bland visuals plague the first two acts of the movie, with things only picking up near the end of The Crow when Eric finally fully takes on his identity as The Crow.
3 The Crow 2024 Makes Very Weird Story Choices
“A turkey in crow’s clothing.” – Olly Richards, Empire Magazine
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2024’s The Crow changes a lot from the original story, and many of these decisions are quite weird. The Crow again changes Eric and Shelly’s origin, but nearly every decision that the film makes is worse than what is seen in the comics and the 1994 movie. Eric and Shelly’s deaths aren’t as violent in this version, and the decision to not make them victims of a random act of violence also makes the world of the film feel a lot less interesting.
Most versions of The Crow start out with Eric and Shelly engaged, meaning that Eric’s deep love for Shelly is already established. However, showing how they first met means that the film has to take on the burden of making their relationship so strong that it literally won’t let Eric die, something that the 2024 adaptation fails to pull off. On top of that, things like the rehabilitation institution escape and the bizarre villain raise more questions than they answer.
2 The Crow 2024 Just Isn’t As Cool As The Crow Should Be
“‘The Crow’ is the fifth attempt to bring James O’Barr’s work to the big screen, and perhaps the one that least achieves the gothic splendor of the original comic.” – Aglaia Berlutti, El estímulo
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While The Crow definitely stands out from other superhero stories, one thing that the franchise is known for is its coolness factor. While The Crow may seem a bit dated when looking through the lens of the 2020s, The Crow was incredibly cool when it first released, with it leaning into the punk and goth aesthetics of the era. The 1994 The Crow movie managed to perfectly capture this, especially with its music.
Unfortunately, 2024’s The Crow isn’t cool at all. The film’s lack of style and originality means that there is nothing attractive about the film. The edge that The Crow is supposed to have feels a bit immature in the 2024 version, and it simply doesn’t manage to capture what made the original graphic novel and movie so memorable.
Related 2024’s The Crow Could Be Great, But I Wish This Earlier Reboot Attempt Happened
Before the days of the 2024 The Crow film, a titled reboot was in development, with it starring one of the biggest actors of the modern day.
1 The Crow 2024 Is An Unnecessary Remake Of The 1994 Original
“The Crow reboot fails to justify its existence and instead churns out a feckless, goopy, sloppy imitation of the 1990s classic.” – Jeffrey Harris, 411mania
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One of the most commonly cited criticisms of the 2024 The Crow remake is that it is unnecessary after the 1994 original. Due to the tragic death of Brandon Lee while shooting The Crow, the role of Eric Draven has forever been associated with him. Some have seen the decision to do another version of The Crow as a bit disrespectful, believing that preserving the legacy of the original film is the best way to honor Lee’s legacy.
The 2024 movie has attempted to get around this criticism, with many involved in the film claiming that it is not a remake, but rather another adaptation of The Crow comic books. Unfortunately, the 2024 movie doesn’t do enough to justify its existence, with it clearly heavily relying on the tropes that made the 1994 The Crow movie great.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
The Crow (2024) 18
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The Crow (2024) is a dark and gritty reimagining of the original graphic novel. It follows Eric, who is resurrected from the dead to avenge his and his soulmate’s brutal murders. Armed with supernatural abilities, Eric seeks justice against the killers responsible, navigating through a corrupt city that is as much a character as he is. This adaptation introduces new elements to captivate the modern audience!
Director Rupert Sanders Release Date August 23, 2024 Distributor(s) Lionsgate Writers James O’Barr , Zach Baylin Cast Bill Skarsgard , FKA Twigs , Danny Huston , Josette Simon , Laura Birn , Sami Bouajila , Jordan Bolger , Karel Dobrý Runtime 111 Minutes Budget $50 Million Main Genre Action Expand