The Crow: Salvation is a very good movie, not even close to being the masterpiece The Crow is but it's the best sequel you can ask for. There has been a lot of press about Salvation's release and I to am puzzled as to why it's basically direct to video, the producers blame Dimension and politics and yes Salvation is grim but I don't know how true that statement is. The Crow: Salvation is, in my opinion, the most violent of The Crow movies, some is over the top and some is pretty grim stuff but hey it's all good. Eric Mabius seemed a strange choice to some cause he doesn't have the look of what you think of as the typical Crow good guy BUT he is very good at what he does, ranging from fights to anger, sadness...all are touched upon and he delivers in all areas. Kirsten Dunst does good also, I don't think she was bad like some reviews have said, she does seem kinda off in some scenes (the graveyard comes to mind) but she does fine. It's hard to explain Fred Ward's character because it will give away plot details (which honestly isn't hard to figure out anyway) but he does well and has some funny lines also, Fred's been a cool actor for a long time playing in some quirky movies like Remo Williams, Tremors and it's sequel, and Cast A Deadly Spell. Jodie Lynn O'Keefe's role isn't big at all and she doesn't have much to do but she's beautiful and the scenes she has are effective and the scene where she and Mabius are playing around doing fake karate is cute and touching, actually that whole scene is one of my fave's especially when Alex is at her grave talking about wanting to be with her but he can't...it's really touching and sweet, yes to those confused that and the karate scene are the same...you'll understand when u see the movie. The look of Salvation is closer to part 1 than 2 was and yet it has a look all it's own, Salvation is grounded more in reality than the first 2 were but the city is still dark, gritty, and depressing, and the sets were cool...especially the execution chamber with the words on each wall. The rest of the cast does fine with what they have but it isn't much, they are all paper thin bad guys with few characteristics to distinguish differences between them other than the way they die. Which brings me back to the violence, no I don't have a problem with it and am not talking about it to warn you because violence in movies does NOT make people kill others (what movies did Hitler and Stalin watch). Yes Salvation is the most violent Crow and it's not all fun some scenes are closer to the violence in Taxi Driver than The Matrix. But we do get some cool scenes like when Alex shoots himself in the mouth and the camera goes through the mouth as the wound heals and also the scene where Alex and the Dale Midkiff character are in the car and hit a bus and both fly through the windshield but I kinda think The Crow: Salvation is a little brutal but it's all good. Credit must go to Bharat Nalluri for making a cool looking movie with pretty cool camera work and effects and also credit Marco Beltrami for making a really good score that doesn't ape Graeme Revell's but is something all it's own. The ending is really good also but I pretty much figured out who was the man with the scarred arm (which was cool but also too derivative of The Fugitive) but another cool thing was his room looked like it was out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the stuffing room in The Lost Boys, but anyway the end was cool how the bad guy manipulated Alex into thinking maybe he did kill Erin...it was weird. And the end credits play over the new Crow symbol like the credits played over the Batman symbol at the end of Batman Forever. Oh and to just throw it in here it was cool that the markings if Alex were scars and not the paint like in 2 (which had really no reason for it other than cause it was part 2). I'm sure some will give Salvation hell because The Crow is so sacred to them but I say let the series live on and not die. Brandon Lee did give a truely great performance in The Crow and it's a tragedy that he died but I will not hold that against Salvation or City of Angels (which was kinda sucky). I do think Salvation could have been better with a little more money invested in it but that would be in the sets and scope department but then again I like Salvation a lot and Eric Mabius is a gifted actor (for further proof see Black Circle Boys). I hope to see more of Bharat Nalluri and hope he doesn't drop of the face of the earth like COA's director (Tim Pope what are u doing these days). The Crow was better yes because ALL of the characters were better drawn and Brandon's death which I'm not saying was good for the movie but did make the movie more of an emotional experience...it IS a masterpiece and no Salvation is no masterpiece but it is a great movie experience. You won't come away giddy (it is a Crow movie remember) but like part 1 you will come away thinking of Life, Love, and Death.
