Genre: Action/Supernatural
Director: Sam Raimi
Writer: Jacob Jones
Based on the comic by James O'Barr
Cast: Adam Driver, Ezra Miller, Lili Simmons, Santiago Cabrera, Caitlin Carmichael, Ernie Hudson, Taylor Lautner, Rosemary Harris, Adam Lambert
Plot: October 30th, 2009:
Across the dreary skyline of Detroit stands Sgt. Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) as he studies a lifeless body and questions a sobbing woman while another person with baggy clothes tries to calm her down; others try to explain the situation to paramedics. Through Albrecht’s narration, we learn it’s been twenty years since the events of the first movie and that while Devil’s Night has long past its relevance, others still cling on it, waiting for the day it could be resurrected. Something he hopes never comes true.
Watching all the chaos ensure from afar is a guilt-stricken man named Sparrow (Ezra Miller). He runs away from the scene before anyone can sight him, continuing until he reaches a small cafe. There he sits in a small table, contemplating everything and frantically writing notes down in a notepad. He burrows his hands in his face, his world seemingly shattering before his eyes.
Hours later at a hospital, Albrecht sadly confirms that Troy Larson's (Adam Driver) death via his injuries and promises to uncover the murder and bring the culprit to justice. The group heads off to his office, Albrecht looking at the hospital and thinking to himself. It appears he’ll put off retirement for ‘just a little longer’.
Several months later, a crow flies among the streets of Detroit stopping at Troy's tombstone where after tapping it, Troy reawakens. He wanders around the streets until coming across his former house. He enters the garage, finding his electric guitar. A closer look inside shows that he used to be the lead singer of a rock band named ‘Birds of Tomorrow’, his best friend Sparrow Wilson being lead guitar while Sammy Smalls (Adam Lambert) handled backup vocals, Brett Monroe took bass and girlfriend Elizabeth Ravyn (Lili Simmons) played the drums.
After the show, band manager Diego Cortez (Santiago Cabrera) congratulates the group on successful performance and offers to take them to a club. The group has a wonderful time with Cortez and Brett (Taylor Lautner) taking part in a shot contest, Sammy trying to flirt with a bartender, Sparrow jawing back and forth with an inebriated person and Troy and Elizabeth dancing to the music. Elizabeth’s seductive dancing lures him to her and the two proceed to a chair where they passionately make-out.
Later that night, the drunken group stumbles out of the club. Noticeably without Troy and Sparrow. A shouting match occurs between Sparrow and the man from earlier with Troy trying to calm things down. The guy gets a gun, threatening to shoot his lights out. The rest of the night is a blur to Troy, but in the belief that the person who had the gun shot him goes into the bathroom and bashing his head onto a mirror repeatedly. After finding his injuries suddenly heal, he feels the crow’s spirit guiding him to his new mission: Find and kill his murderer.
Sparrow Wilson is then shown trick or treating, attempting to have fun with the children but to no avail. As he plays catch up, Toriel, (Rosemary Harris) the caretaker of the orphans, thanks him for volunteering. Sparrow shrugs it off, needing something to do as he contemplates life. Toriel then expresses sympathy towards his best friend passing away. She relates to him, having lost her parents early in life. But their undying love towards her has lived on inside her heart, which explains why she takes care of the orphans.
There is one however who seems to reject her love though, young Wendy Parsons (Caitlin Carmichael). Her parents also died early in her life, and when her grandfather became to frail to take care of her, she was given the will to let her stay in the orphanage until she was eighteen. Sparrow offers to try and speak to her, something Toriel blesses him for. He promises to be there early tomorrow morning, and as he walks he puts together the similarities between he and 'Wendy'.
Inside a drinking establishment, The Crow finds Cortez tending to the glasses and swiftly opens the door to the surprise of many guests. After a sarcastic quote about Twilight: The Musical, The Crow demands to know the street of the murderer and is told he's in the wrong street. Several more bad answers later and the two engage in a brutal fistfight which sees The Crow bash Cortez in the head several times with a pool cue, making him bleed from broken glasses shattered around them. Cortez attempts to fight back by throwing a drink towards him but it does nothing.
The Crow then forces him onto the pool table, smashing his head on it several times. Now a bloody mess, Cortez begs for mercy and tells The Crow that the murderer lives on Ravenhelm Street. With his questions answered, The Crow leaves, but not before warning Cortez that 'the rest shall be questioned'. Cortez looks on, petrified by what he means. The news travels everywhere as people are convinced that Eric Draven (The Crow from twenty years ago) has returned from the dead. Sgt. Albrecht is chosen to inspect the case given his involvement with Eric twenty years prior and begins an investigation regarding the two men. To his shock, he finds their similarities uncanny. But he is convinced there is more that meets the eye.
After wrapping up a photoshoot, Elizabeth gets a call from Sparrow and finds out that he’s going to be taking care of an orphan named Wendy. It’s learned that she’s been using her yoga classes as a coping mechanism after Troy’s death and begins to reminisce on the day the two first met, Elizabeth going from a lucky fan Troy managed to catch his eye on. Once the two started hanging out, one thing lead to another and next thing you, they're a couple.
Sparrow then begins to act erratically, concerning Elizabeth. He assures her that it’s only illness and hangs up soon after. Later on, Sparrow is shown entering the orphanage and is guided to Wendy’s room. The room is bare, lifeless, nothing but a little girl staring out the window with a blank expression. Toriel tries to tell Wendy that Sparrow is here to help her cope with the passing of her parents and leaves them by themselves. When she’s gone, Wendy tells him that she doesn’t know the truth. She goes on a rant on how rough her life was. Her parents were abusers who would constantly slap or hit her if she did the slightest thing wrong, being bullied by kids for being ‘different’ and once almost died from a stabbing.
One day during summer vacation, she recalls her parents trying to get her out of the house and ‘open for dumbass mind for once’. When she got in the car she noticed her mother was under the influence and said nothing about it. Once they crossed the streets however, she took off her seatbelt and choked her father. Her mother tried to intervene but it caused the car to spiral. She took the opportunity to jump out the window and watched as the car crashed into a building, killing them both on impact. When questioned, she claimed her mother passed out and she had to save herself. And when the word got out of her parents’ abusive nature she was labeled a survivor and hero.
She became a nomad in the streets, hovering around until authorities required her to attend Toriel's orphanage. She then goes on an unhinged rant on how the orphanage is a personal hell forced upon her and that would rather rot in jail than suffer another day with Toriel, declaring her intent to kill her with her own bare hands. Sparrow looks on in shock and after she asks if he’s going to snitch, he reveals that the two are more alike than they think.
Inside a recording studio, Sammy records his debut solo album ‘Streetwise with Sammy Streets’ when Cortez calls him. He warns him of The Crow and the danger that ensues, Sammy writes it off as a folk’s tale but says whoever he is could get on a song of his if he so wishes. Little does he know, The Crow has entered the studio and has listened to everything. He immediately attacks, not relenting once. Sammy tries to throw his phone onto The Crow, not only does he catch it, he breaks it into pieces. He then throws Sammy onto the synthesizer and begins to douse an entire bottle of water onto it, causing it to short circuit. The Crow runs out just before the studio explodes and watches as Sammy’s body be electrocuted and burnt beyond recognition.
As The Crow exits, he glances at a street sign saying ‘Ravenhelm Street’. He is convinced he has found his killer, but he remembers that Sammy was nowhere near the scene of the crime, marking him innocent. Guided by his crow friend, he continues his rampage. For days without end, he murders random civilians, convinced that they may have something to do with the murder. The pressure is put on Sgt. Albrecht to do something. He agrees to take him in for questioning, which The Crow accepts. As they talk, The Crow explains his mission to Albrecht.
A man named Troy had been killed several weeks ago and he had been tasked to find his killer and avenge his soul. He assures Albrecht that he is doing this for the good of many and that process of elimination is the way to go about it. Albrecht tries to negotiate with him, saying he will give information regarding who could’ve killed him and The Crow can handle said person how they please. This does not bode well as The Crow refuses to be lead by a puppetmaster. He shall kill whoever he likes however he pleases. The Crow leaves, confirming Albrecht’s fear that this is not the same Crow from years prior. This Crow is a cold-hearted killer.
The next day, Brett is shown a gym learning jin-jitsu when a hysterical Cortez calls warning him that The Crow is on the loose and that he could come for you at any moment. Brett knows this and says this is while he’s preparing himself in case this happens. All he can say is that when he meets The Crow, he hopes that God is on his side. As this is going on, Sparrow is shown taking Wendy to a playground. The two have bonded over their misdemeanors and similar paths. He says that it’s the same playground he first met Troy. The two would work together to make the biggest castle in all of sandcastle history. They didn’t come close, but he calls this the day he found a friend for life.
Their friendship was what led to them forming the ‘Birds of Tomorrow’ and the rest they say was history. Sparrow’s phone rings and he gets the same warning Cortez gave Brett. The Crow is on the rampage and urges him to watch out. This horrifies Sparrow and the image of Troy being shot plays in his mind. He runs off to his house, unknowingly being followed by a curious Wendy. Sparrow picks up several weapons, putting them in his pocket. This confuses Wendy but she doesn’t mind, what does peak her interest is him saying The Crow is out to get him. Sparrow urges Wendy that she doesn’t want to as he’s a bad man. Wendy doesn’t mind, having been with bad company her entire life and picks up a gun, fantasizing about shooting The Crow and Toriel.
Cortez is then shown trying to call Elizabeth with very little success. He worries that The Crow has gotten to her, but as it turns out she was only driving towards Cortez’s house to pick him up. Cortez tells Elizabeth they need to find Brett fast, he doesn’t know when or where The Crow will find him, but he fears that it will be imminent. Brett is then shown walking through the streets seeing shadows cross his path. He stands his ground waiting for The Crow to show himself. When he does arrive, he wastes no time fighting him.
As they fight, Sparrow and Wendy are picked up by Cortez and Elizabeth in an attempt to garner information from them. Back with the fight, Brett seems to actually hold his weight against The Crow, even locking him in a kimura lock. With his other hand, however, The Crow grabs their knife and stabs Brett in the back. He breaks out of the hold and begins to stab him repeatedly. A despondent Brett begs for mercy as blood gushes out, but an emotionless Crow tells him that the sins of the past must be rectified.
The rest of the group arrives just after, horrified at watching Brett be murdered by The Crow when he begins to see the vehicle and all those inside it. He looks at them all and their petrified faces. He recollects his memories and realizes that while Sparrow and the guy had their fight, Sparrow manages to take the guy's gun and play with it when…
The Crow’s eyes look dead straight at Sparrow’s, his hands shaking and breath heavy. He then takes the knife that killed Brett and throws it at the car window, shattering the glass. The group hightails it out before The Crow can do any damage. With only himself alive, The Crow cries out for Sparrow, confirming that he was the one that murdered him.
All hell breaks loose within the cities of Detroit as people begin to riot over The Crow’s reign of terror. The mayor of Detroit calls for a curfew of 8 PM-6 AM and urges the public to stay indoors but people are demanding to know what they plan to do with The Crow. Meanwhile, as Sgt. Albrecht watches over the streets begin to burn down, he looks over to a picture of Eric Draven when he was The Crow and realizes how much his reputation has been disgraced. Deciding the only choice is to stop him, he carries a gun and begins to head off to find some more ammo.
Sparrow sits in a dark corner of his room, mind stuck on The Crow screaming out for his name. Elizabeth enters the house concerned for his being and asks if what The Crow was talking about meant something. Sparrow confesses to murdering Troy. To his surprise, Elizabeth has known all along and is about to reveal the truth. But to her shock, he strangles her, force-feeding her a drug to make her pass out and rushes to his closet where he dresses Elizabeth up in the outfit she wore when Troy was murdered. A low cut shirt, a mini-skirt, and black leggings. Afterward, he writes a final note to Toriel and carries Elizabeth to the back of his car.
The Crow watches on top of a tree, observing the chaos he has created. He looks towards his crow friend who only stares at the sight. To him, it's the bird telling him that his job is not yet finished. As the day unfolds, Wendy finds Toriel and the other orphans mourning silently. When Toriel shows her Sparrow's farewell note, she runs out to try and find him. Toriel follows suit, refusing to let her get hurt, or worse killed. Sparrow parks his car near the edge of a cliff and opens the trunk, throwing Elizabeth off in the process. Upon waking up, Sparrow tells her that the pain will end when his ends and reveals a gun from his pocket. He shoots a bullet, capturing The Crow's attention. He leaps into action, jumping from building to building until he reaches the edges of Detroit.
He reaches the Sparrow and Elizabeth's area but before he can face him he looks at Elizabeth, taking her by the hand, healing her of the drug Sparrow gave her. He apologizes for what he has done in the past and for what he must do. And so the duel finally begins, Sparrow giving it every time he has. But for every move or punch thrown, The Crow has a counter.
Desperate, Sparrow shoots bullets towards The Crow. But he either dodges or hales quickly. Soon, only one bullet remains. It's by this point that Sgt. Albrecht, Wendy, and Cortez come forth, Wendy and Cortez begging Sparrow to stop and Sgt. Albrecht warning The Crow that he'll shoot if he makes a move. Sparrow tries to explain his actions, saying The Crow must be vanquished in order for his mind to be cleared. The Crow questions him regarding the murder of Troy, leaving Sparrow infuriated. He vehemently declares that he doesn't deserve forgiveness for his actions, as he had killed not just a friend of others, but his best friend.
The Crow seeing the mayhem occurring from everyone surrounding them demands them to stop so that he can talk to Sparrow. He looks at him straight in the eye and tells him that he is broken, a shell of the man he claims to be. He made a foolish mistake, one he regrets. And yet, he does not ask for forgiveness? The Crow ponders if Sparrow is truly remorseful. Perhaps maybe The Crow was the hero all along, and Sparrow a cowardly man who refuses to admit to his faults.
Sparrow finally cracks, going down on his knees and sobbing despondently. He calls out to Troy, desperate screams echoing in the sky. The Crow watches on, giving pity to Sparrow. He picks Sparrow up and gives him an ultimatum. If he is truly sorry for the damage he has caused towards his friends, he will let The Crow kill him and rejoin his friend up in Heaven. But if he resists, The Crow will be forced to kill everyone he has loved. Sparrow reluctantly accepts, but on the condition, he tells Wendy something beforehand. The Crow grants him permission.
Sparrow looks towards a concerned Wendy and walks towards her. He tells her that if he must die, she must promise to come clean to Sgt. Albrecht. She refuses at first but seeing the pained expression on the face of her closest friend forces her to go to Sgt. Albrecht and admit the murder of her parents. The Crow tells Sparrow to take the gun and aims right on the body. With one bullet, Sparrow goes down to the ground, blood spilling out of him until he is lifeless. A crow flies towards Sparrow, inspecting him in an attempt to confirm his death. When it flies off, The Crow's powers wear off. His mission is now complete.
Sgt. Albrecht takes The Crow to Troy's graveyard in his police car and is about to let him head towards the graveyard. Before he can go far though, Albrecht takes him by the arm and tells 'Troy' that some people will do anything to be resurrected and urges him to ensure that others don't follow the same path Sparrow took. The Crow says he will only watch from the sky until he is needed again and wishes him farewell. The Crow then slowly crawls his way towards Troy's grave and lies peacefully. Sgt. Albrecht watches on, looking up into the sky and hoping that fate treats those who have done wrong on accident be forgiven, driving off into the sunset.
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