The Futility of Attempting to Improve on Excellence

Hollywood movie-makers are remaking The Crow.  If I could I would stop them in their tracks.

The Crow came out in 1994 and it was on that set that Brandon Lee was killed in a freak accident with a prop gun.  He was 34 and on the verge of becoming a huge star.

I first saw Brandon Lee, the son of action star Bruce, at a drive-in when he starred in an okay action flick called Rapid Fire.  He wasn’t just good-looking, he had a charisma that leapt off the screen and that certain something that indicates star quality. 

Lee was killed when a bit of bullet that had become lodged in a prop gun hit him in the spine. Despite a six-hour operation, the 28 year old died just days before the movie was completed and 17 days before his wedding.  A stunt-double friend and special effects were employed to finish the movie with the blessing of Lee’s fiancee and Mom.   It sounds like a pasted-together bit of desperation but the result is a dark, moving film about the endurance of love.  The Crow was a box office smash. 

Now a mere 14 years later some arrogant so-and-so thinks he can remake this film.   Mark Wahlberg is supposed to be taking on the Brandon Lee role. Wahlberg is an excellent actor and I’m a big fan but the whole project leaves me puzzled. I totally understand a remake of a film from the 50’s or 60’s when production values were comparatively archaic and the stars are long dead or nearly forgotten.  But I don’t understand redoing a movie like The Crow when it’s readily available on DVD and is such an iconic piece of art.  Imagination is obviously dead or there would be no reason to tamper with this bit of cinematic history.