Parents' Guide to

The Crow

Movie R 2024 111 minutes
The Crow Movie Poster: The face of Eric (Bill Skarsgård) in close-up, with black smeared around his eyes and down his cheeks

Common Sense Media Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson By Jeffrey M. Anderson , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 16+

Blood, death, sex, cursing in violent but lackluster reboot.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 16+?

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Parent and Kid Reviews

age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

age 14+

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (2 ):

The filmmakers try to fill out this story, first filmed in 1994, with extra padding, but it never comes to anything more than that; it just plods along, with no urgency or purpose. Frankly, the story of The Crow never really had much going on other than pure vengeance, but at least the 1994 movie—which is notable for being the final film of Bruce Lee's son Brandon Lee—had a high style that gave it some momentum. This version spends a long time establishing the relationship between Shelly and Eric, which basically all comes down to "they were in love." That, subsequently, leaves less time for the actual Crow stuff. And, even with relatively little time left, the filmmakers waste yet more of it by showing Eric learning how to become the Crow, failing, and having to go back and strike a new, darker deal.

Only before the final showdown—which is set during an opera, and, of course, intercut with scenes from it—does he finally put on his iconic face paint and long black coat. The killings, which are gory, full-bore slashings, are mostly meaningless because viewers really don't care about any of these people. Even Skarsgård, who's normally a gifted, Lon Chaney-like actor able to do just about anything, can't convey much humanity here. But most of all, The Crow begs the question: If Shelly and Eric were both killed for the same reasons, why couldn't Shelly be the one who gets to come back and become a superhero?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: August 23, 2024
  • Cast: Bill Skarsgård , FKA Twigs , Danny Huston
  • Director: Rupert Sanders
  • Inclusion Information: Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors, Indian/South Asian actors
  • Studio: Lionsgate
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • Run time: 111 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: strong bloody violence, gore, language, sexuality/nudity, and drug use
  • Last updated: August 25, 2024

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