"You are a prophet," I cried, "prophetic! Are you a bird or an ominous spirit,
This Heaven that is above us - God hidden forever -
I conjure, begging, to tell me - within the boundaries of Paradise
Will the saint reveal to me that among the angels there is always
The one who is always called Lenora in heaven?
Raven croaked: "Never."
The original "The Crow" was a complete story with a running time of less than two hours, which generally did not need any sequels or other adaptations. But, as regularly happens, the established cult status of the film gives rise to a series of controversial prequels and sequels and the fashion for serial adaptations that began in the second half of the nineties (here we can also recall the rather successful variations on the theme of "Highlander" and "Mortal Kombat") also did not pass by.
The series tries to follow the form set by the original in everything. In this sense it works out well. Here we have the main character in the person of Mark Dacascos, who knows martial arts and is similar in appearance to Brandon Lee, and a familiar teenager, and a good underground soundtrack, among which you can find names like Crystal Method or Rob Zombie, maniacs and mystics in adequate proportions.
In terms of content, everything was rather more lackluster. Not a trace remains of the former gothic gloomy atmosphere, if it manifests itself, it is rather like this, in separate elements. The main character makes jokes that aren't funny, he only tries on makeup when he's angry, and the fights, on average, look short and bland.
The plot aspect is also worth noting. The events of the first film here crumple into the first two episodes, after which the plot takes a somersault and the wild imagination of the authors begins. It balances from fairly insipid detective stories of the level of what is shown today on some third party channels, to at times extreme absurdity in the spirit of the sixteenth episode about the spirit of the evil Rasputin, who wants to be reborn by the power of russian cultists who accidentally wandered into the USA. A good half of the episodes as a whole are in no way connected with each other and do not advance the main storyline. It looks as if the authors didn't know how to fill the 22 "mandatory" episodes. But more time could have been devoted to the mystical subtext, the development of the alter ego line, which will be noted only at the very end..., or to the woman who found herself in a similar situation. If we count those that in one way or another specifically affect the hero's line, we get something like this: 1,2,8,9,11, 12 +/-, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 22. That is. 12 episodes out of 22.
The series has an open ending. Apparently a second season was planned, but as with "Mortal Kombat: Conquest" (1998-1999), it never saw the light of day.
Objectively, if abstract from what came before the original film, if Dacascos weren't here, who in general carries almost the entire story on himself, the soundtrack and a series of certain features, I would probably give it a couple of points lower and a red mark. But...
