Plays most of the same notes as the original, but not half as well. Vincent Perez - playing an entirely different character - still seems to be doing his best Brandon Lee impression, which sadly isn't very good. Only the hauntingly beautiful Mia Kirshner manages to transcend her paint by numbers role. In truth, I'd rather have seen her as The Crow.'City of Angels' was reportedly heavily edited by Miramax (no surprise there if you know anything about their butchery practices) and has subsequently been disowned by director Tim Pope and screenwriter David Goyer. At 86 minutes with credits, it definitely feels chopped up. A so-called "Second Coming" edit of the film apparently exists, and perhaps it's better as some claim, but there's an inherent artistic failure here that no amount of "more" can fix.

Everybody who saw "The Crow" (1994), a grisly but formulaic back-fr0m-the-dead revenge melodrama, knows actor Brandon Lee died from an accidental gunshot wound on the set during filming. Strangely enough, Lee's untimely demise boosted the box office appeal of "The Crow." The success prompted Miramax Pictures to release a sequel of sorts: "The Crow: City of Angels." Not only have the film producers replaced Lee with another actor, but they also have conjured up an entirely new character. Sequels typically fail to live up to the high standards of most original films, but "The Crow: City of Angels" proves the exception to the rule. The message of "The Crow: City of Angels," a nihilistic supernatural sadomasochistic saga, is that love is sometimes stronger than death. Nevertheless, love takes a backseat to violence in this expressionistic follow-up to the ill-fated but financially successful original. Instead, the filmmakers aim their cameras like guns at the more unsavory narrative elements: brutal murders and echoes of deviant sexual practices with an incidental node to the love aspect.The premise of the first "Crow" reechoes throughout the sequel. When somebody dies, a crow carries the soul to the land of the dead. Occasionally, something so horrible occurs that a soul can find no rest. In such a case, the crow leads the soul back to the living so that injustices can be resolved. David Goyer, who penned the original "Crow," tinkers rather than tampers with the surefire formula that yielded a $50 million haul at the box office. A cadaverous hero rises from the grave and destroys a depraved gang of low-life hemorrhoids. In "The Crow: City of Angels," a twenty-something auto mechanic, Ashe Corven (Vincent Perez of "Queen Margot"), and his young son Danny (Eric Acosta of "Cheerleader Massacre 2") witness a gangland execution by a drug kingpin called Judah.The setting has been changed from the Motor City to the City of Angels. Instead of hoodlums celebrating Devil's Night, as in the original, here citizens participate in the Day of the Dead ceremonies designed to discourage departing spirits from lingering with the living. Eight years have elapsed since the first movie, and Sarah (Mia Kirshner of "Not Another Teen Movie") is the only hold-over character from the original. Sarah has grown up, moved to Los Angeles, and now runs a tattoo parlor. Sarah has been having nightmares lately, about a double homicide.A crow flies into her apartment, and she follows it to the harbor where the bodies of Ash and his son were dumped. The crow revives Ashe, and he emerges in a frothy fountain of bubbles before Sarah's eyes. When Ashe embarks on his revenge, Sarah paints his face in the same Harlequin pattern as Eric Draven's from the first film. Only this time, she uses Ashe's dead son's paints, giving it a truly symbolic meaning. Ashe begins knocking off Judah's (Richard Brooks) henchmen, working his way, as he calls it "up the food chain" to Judah himself. The villains comprise an undeniably loathsome bunch. You'd certainly never invite these scumbags home to meet your parents. Curve, (plug-ugly Iggy Pop of "Tank Girl") resembles death warmed over, while a dark smooth-skinned Richard Brooks as Judah presents a commanding presence. The drug dealing merchant of pain here is so repellent that he display little remorse when a poorly mixed batch of his own narcotics kills his customers. Every time one of these reptilian characters dies, the image of a crow appears around him. For example, when Ashe pitches one baddie from a window, the blood from the dead person's head coagulates in a puddle shaped like a crow.Compared with the first film, "City of Angels" isn't as violent. There is nothing here that comes off as violent as the table scene where Brandon Lee's Eric Draven got blasted by a barrage of gunfire. French heartthrob Vincent Perez animates his slain avenger with a Gallic exuberance. Perez's performance also conveys a quality that makes his character vulnerable and at the same time somewhat melancholy because he is deprived of life. Ashe reveals his reluctance to Sarah to blindly adhere to the fix path that fate has paved for him. Audiences learn the bare minimum about him. All we know about his wife is that she abounded him and their son after she became a drug addict. Unlike Eric Draven, Ashe's body doesn't erase the signs of violence. Gunshot wounds don't magically vanish. He spends more time tooling about on his motorcycle in search of felons and he never carries the crow around on his shoulder.Goyer's episodic script resembles a formula Republic serial from the 1940s. A mysterious hero enters a destitute city and topples a tyrant. Compared with the longer original film, "City of Angels" amounts to a severely pared down exercise in minimalism. The filmmakers have sacrificed exposition, which would clarify characters and story, for supercharged, headlong momentum. If you're looking for exposition, try the web site for "The Crow: City of Angels," because only the most essential information for pushing the plot forward remains in the film. Goyer and director Tim Pope keep the narrative simple, the characters shallow, and the story free from complications or digressive sub-plots. Extraneous characters, such as Ernie Hudson's cop from the first "Crow" don't clutter up the storyline. "The Crow: City of Angels" marks the motion picture debut of music-video director Tim Pope. Previously, Pope helmed music videos for Paul McCartney, Iggy Pop, Queen, and David Bowie. Pope clearly draws on his background so that his "Crow" boasts a fast-paced, no-nonsense, imagine intensive appearance. The film possesses a murky, Gothic look. Smoke swirls around the different bombed-out nocturnal settings, and Pope bathes different scenes in harsh, abrasive color schemes. The wide-angled point of view shots from the perspective of the craw have an avant-garde quality. You don't need to have seen "The Crow" to appreciate "The Crow: City of Angeles."

Some time ago, Ashe Corven and his son Danny were killed when they stumbled across a pack of drug dealers murdering a fellow dealer.The dealers work for Los Angeles drug kingpin Judah. Local tattoo artist Sarah, who has great knowledge of the crow legend because of what happened with her late friend, has been having dreams about Ashe and Danny.One night when a crow leads her to the scene of the murders of Ashe and Danny, Ashe appears before her.The crow has resurrected Ashe, so Ashe can go after Judah and his right hand man Curve.With the guidance of the crow, Ashe starts killing off Judah's men one by one, on his way to Judah.Yes, many think that this film is sacrilege and trounces on Lees grave, but in my opinion, it's a great sequel, very dark, and seems very visceral at times.I love the first movie, it has that tone to it and obviously what happened to Lee makes the film more poignant and essential. It was inevitable that there was going to be a sequel as the film shouts our franchise, whether you like it or not.Perez is obviously no Lee, but he wasn't supposed to be, he is his own 'Crow' ans this film has more of a paternal feel to it, rather than the dark romanticism of the first.And this is where the film usurps the first, the villains in this are more entertaining, even if they are over the top and more theatrical. Judah though, isn't a patch on Top Dollar, but has some good scenes and hilarious dialogue.So all in all it's a sequel, but a heavily underrated one, thanks to obsessed fans of the first who dismissed this.The set pieces are great, the soundtrack as dark as the first, and a whole 'dusk' vibe throughout the whole movie.It's obviously directed by a music video director, as the editing is sharp and some of the cinematography is stark.It's okay to say that this movie is good, you won't offend anyone, or lose the mysticism of the original.

I admit that Salvation was the first version I watched before looking for the original from 1994, but I'm glad I did or I wouldn't have given it a chance after this great disappointment.The actor choice and acting was poor at best and it was slow moving.The directing was everywhere and though the soundtrack was still good, that's about the only good thing about this film.Vincent Perez is the worst version of The crow yet! I couldn't help but view him as a spazzed out Carrot-Top, No, even that comedian would have done the role better! They murdered the character that was supposed to be Sarah, and though I'm sure it's supposed to be because she grew up and matured, they chose the wrong direction for a character that was so lovable.Not to troll, I love the feelings any father has for his child, but the feeling just wasn't the same. It felt more like "Oh my god, was he more with his son then a dad? Is he gay?" Just a personal opinion, Salvation and the Original were way better then this piece of scrap and I'm glad I didn't waste the money to see it in theaters.