‘The Crow’ didn’t stand a chance against these negative reviews

The remake of The Crow was doomed from the start. From purists who didn’t want the 1994 film touched to people who just wished they’d leave the comic alone, it never really had a fighting chance. Despite my own enjoyment, the reviews sealed its fate.

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Crow (2024) currently stands at a 20% from critics. On the flip of that, the original film from 1994 sits at an 86% from critics. My own review of the film was favorable, and I do recognize that it may just be because I have never seen the 1994 film and this was my first foray into the story of Eric, a.k.a. The Crow.

But looking at the negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, it just feels like this movie was doomed from the start, unable to escape comparisons to what came before.

A.A. Dowd from IGN wrote, “Despite some fruitful tweaks (like devoting more time to the doomed romance The Crow is avenging), it’s not different enough to compensate for the ways it fails to match the splashy, moody dumb fun of what came before it.”

Jeffrey Harris from 411mania wrote, “The Crow reboot fails to justify its existence and instead churns out a feckless, goopy, sloppy imitation of the 1990s classic. A weak and nondescript supporting cast, banal dialogue, a dull romance, and awful direction fail to uplift the experience.”

Others just flat out called the movie boring. Kevin Carr from Fat Guys At the Movies wrote, “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.”

These negative reviews don’t help people who already didn’t want it

Look, I get it. If a remake of your favorite thing is happening, you’re less likely to go see it if the reviews are bad. But for all the bad reviews, there were people (like me) who enjoyed the take on the film. Rachel Wagner from Rachel’s Reviews wrote, “I actually enjoyed the new version as well. It isn’t a homerun or anything but enough good to give it a recommendation.”

Even critics like Hope Madden from Fox 28 Columbus pointed out that elements of the movie can’t match the original but that this take on the story has its merits: “Visually it can’t match the original, but the opera house sequence is so well-staged and perfectly flanked by the performance onstage, benefits from impressive choreography and effects work, giving the film its only truly memorable moments”

All this to say that I think the negative response from critics was the final straw for a movie that was already facing up against nostalgia. Personally, I wish people would give this movie a chance. I had fun with it and it was an interesting take on the story and made me want to watch the original. So maybe go into it with an open heart?