The Crow: A Tribute To The Underappreciated Genius Of Brandon Lee
02-6-2012 
As a child born towards the end of the 80s I spent my more formative years influenced by my parents’ film collection. Absorbed in the fantasy worlds of Robin Hood, the man with no name, Batman and Bruce Lee movies, my heroes were vigilantes, gun slingers and Kung fu experts. Often to the dismay of my teachers and most likely illustrated in my childhood games, Bruce Lee, a man introduced to me by Dad was one of my first proper heroes. Raised upon the likes of Enter and Way Of The Dragon I was one of the few kids in the playground that would cite the latter’s end fight with Chuck Norris as his favourite movie scene over the theatrical ending of Aladdin or the fiery climax of The Jungle Book. It seemed only fitting then that at an early age I would also stumble across Bruce lee’s tragic son Brandon whilst sifting through the post-divorce collection of VHS’ that I’d inherited as an ill defined youngster. Being drawn in particular to one movie in question – The Crow.
This was a film my Dad had spoken to me about at length so even before my first viewing I felt well braced in the tales of the movies cult standing, its groundbreakingly accurate take on the graphic novel and the unavoidable tragic death of Brandon Lee through a firearm accident whilst shooting.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name by James O’Barr, it tells the story of Eric Draven. A man wrongfully murdered, who returns from the brink of the afterlife in order to reap vengeance on those that took his life. It’s a text book fantasy tale, one that even as a child barely a teenager, I remember thinking slightly clichéd. Albeit with little understanding of what a cliché actually was. That didn’t however take away from the mystique or potential of viewing such a film. Especially when it was a film that previously I’d been told to completely avoid until I was older – an instruction I obviously avoided one dreary summer holiday weekday.
Brandon Lee / the Crow