The Crow: Salvation (2000) review

Dir. Bharat Nalluri

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★½

The Crow: Salvation is by no means a masterwork, but I’d argue it’s unfairly maligned. To endure the many Crow sequels is to exercise the completionist tendencies of both a monk and a masochist. Similar to the misbegotten follow-up that was Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Crow: City of Angels was so bush league in its attempt to further the mythology of the series, and once it fell victim to studio control, it was destined to be as incoherent and unsatisfying as the film was ultimately got.

Now, Salvation is nowhere close to William Peter Blatty’s resurrection of the aforementioned franchise, but it has the most engrossing story amongst its predecessors. Its framework starts with the execution of an innocent death row inmate; it’s a death made even more painful thanks to an overload of electricity to the chair. In no time, the Crow resurrects the man, Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius), who was framed in the murder of his girlfriend, Lauren. With the newfound ability to withstand pain and abuse, he takes it upon himself to avenge Lauren’s death, with Erin (Kirsten Dunst), Lauren’s sister, still suspicious of her late sister’s boyfriend.

The plethora of those involved in Alex’s unjust imprisonment and subsequent execution are some of the most developed baddies of the series. There’s a witness, who was bribed to give a faulty testimony, a litany of corrupt cops, and the final boss, so to speak, is a rat bastard police captain played terrifically by Fred Ward. Ward embodies one of those hard-nosed, NYPD Blue-esque cops who has a secret door behind the American flag draped on his wall. His introduction is late, yet it’s always a pleasure to see him on-screen in any capacity.

As you can infer, Salvation is a whodunit, for it’s not clear who killed Lauren and for what purpose, making it as much as an active mystery as it is a gritty, Gothic superhero flick. Despite a slashed budget and its relegation to home video, it also looks accomplished visually, not to mention harbors some memorably disgusting moments, such as one involving a mask.

Oddly, the weak link is Mabius. Chip Johannessen’s screenplay attempts to cut through the inherent gloom of the story by getting Alex to be more playful with his victims, such as when he narrowly stops a cop from sexually assaulting a drunk young woman, but Mabius is sometimes, by default, the least interesting person on the screen. He is flat and monotone, and struggles to capture the character’s energy.

The third Crow‘s sequel’s title is strangely fitting. Just when this series was looking to go down the drain in record time, enter this unassuming direct-to-video sequel that just barely rescues it from the bowels of hell.

My review of The Crow (1994)
My review of The Crow: City of Angels
My review of The Crow: Wicked Prayer
My review of The Crow (2024)

Starring: Eric Mabius, Kirsten Dunst, William Atherton, Grant Shaud, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Walton Goggins, and Fred Ward. Directed by: Bharat Nalluri.