JAMES O'BARR'S THE CROW

Produced and Directed by David Ullman and Matt Jackson
Edited by David Ullman

Eric Draven - David Ullman
The Skull Cowboy - Matt Jackson
Shelly - Heather Popa

When Alex Proyas brought James O'Barr's The Crow to the screen with Brandon Lee in the title role, Proyas opted to go with a script that not only rejected some of O'Barrs' most enduring elements and characters, but also completely reversed many of the participants to action. In the end, all that remained from the comic on which it was based are character names and the theme of revenge from beyond the grave. It's no wonder that a loving fan of O'Barr's recreated his work with a more faithful hand.

You can understand why the changes were made in Proyas' version. The story had to be given a more linear vision by the studios in order to help ensure better box office receipts. In the comic, Eric Draven, The Crow, returns from the dead and kills the gang members that slew him and his girlfriend Shelly in a random act of violence. When the last gang member is dead, the book ends. No build up or climax. When the story ends, so does the book. The series was O'Barr's way of dealing with the lose of his girlfriend in the same manner. That's the story told here.

Proyas gave us a plot dealing with Shelly's involvement in some real estate scam. She was killed because she wouldn't cave into the demands of the local gang lord. Proyas has Shelly raped and killed before Draven finally dies, watching her helplessly as the events unfold and his breath slips away. It might sound like a small change, but it's a changes that alters the tone of the entire story. Proyas made a gothic romance, where in order for Draven to be reunited with his love, he must kill those who did her in. Corporate "logic" had to be infused for mass consumption. Ultimately, this killed the concept of senseless violence that changed O'Barr's world forever and gave us The Crow to begin with.

Matt Jackson and David Ullman tell a more faithful version of the story. The Crow has a job to perform, to simply seek revenge upon the evil that ended his love. Gone is the ridiculous garbage regarding the gang trying to buy all of downtown. Other elements from O'Barr's comic and kept intact as well. From the characters who were left out in the Proyas version (ie. The Skull Cowboy), to the senseless brutality of the Shelly and Eric's murder, it's all here.

Told in the same black and white fashion of the comic, the story is much more tragic and sad than the noir action film Proyas turned out. By retaining the elements from O'Barr's original creation, Jackson and Ullman give us a film that's just as intense as was originally intended. The usual fan-film plague of casting friends in roles actually works well this time around. In the aftermath of events like Columbine, the story takes on other elements O'Barr never intended. The action if even more senseless and futile. Instead of being focused on the violence-begets-violence pain of one man, the story becomes a cry for help to an entire generation that's never known selfless love.