Actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I’ve seen much worse.
I agree. I went into it expecting the absolute worst, and I came out of it thinking, "hmm, I actually didn't hate that". Now I'm not very nostalgic for the original, I think I've seen it once as a teenager and thought it was just fine, but I think critics were very harsh on this one.
Now, sure, the original is way better and there was no good reason to do a remake. If you can't get past that, then you'll probably hate this and I just wouldn't bother. For what it is though, I think it's a pretty decent watch. Perfectly fine to stream with a few drinks and have a laugh at on a Saturday night.
What surprised me is that it dared to try something completely different from the original, and even though it wasn't all that great, I do respect the attempt. They focus heavily on the relationship and try to build the character of Draven up before he becomes the Crow, instead of him becoming it after like ten minutes.
I thought the leads had pretty decent chemistry together, and although it does drag on for too long, I didn't dislike their relationship. Overall it looked pretty decent, including what I thought was a pretty cool opening scene involving a horse, and once the action finally starts, it's satisfyingly bloody and brutal. Bill Skarsgard is definitely trying his best, and although Boy Kills World did it better earlier this year, he's pretty good in the fight scenes.
It's not something to take all that seriously, I mean it certainly has the vibe of a 1980's b flick, but I had a surprising amount of fun with it. To me it's like the good kind of poorly-written schlock. Stupid but enjoyable.
Certainly not the worst film I've seen this year. That would be Borderlands, or Ghostbusters Frozen Empire, or Breathe, or The Killer. Damn we've had some real stinkers so far.