“Victims, aren’t we all?”
Paint [8/10]
The Paint category is a little tricky for this release as most of the palette is dominated by black and its many ‘shades’ – (like black, blacker, blackest, less than black, slight black, pitch black, grey, etc.,). However, those little nunaces have been really well captured with minimum bleeds and sops. The work is extremely impressive especially on the Makeup Mirror diorama where the shades of wood really bring out that ‘dirty antique’ look. In conclusion, given the limited colour palette and the subtlety of the entire rig, NECA’s Crow comes off as extremely impressive!
Articulation [3/10]
Yes. I gave it a 3. Sadly this release was at the time when NECA’s figures were cast in the same mould as McFarlane’s glorified statues (’scuse the pun). This figure actually has the same degree of articulation that the original McFarlane Crow figure had! Sculpted in the pose that Brandon Lee captured so well – outstreched arms with one leg in front of the other – the figures have joints on the wrists, shoulders, waist, hips and ankles. But tragically, these articulation points are fairly useless given that their positioning limits the figure to one decent pose only – any other would make the figure look like a goofy drunk. What disappointed me most was that NECA are now making super articulated figures without compromising on sculpt and I sort of figured they’d take a more flexible approach to The Crow.
Accessories [7/10]
The most difficult part to evaluate in this section is what I should even consider as accessories for this set. Ruling out the figures the items included in the set are the eponymous Crow – designed to plug into the figure’s shoulder, the dressing table, and a pantomime mask. While they’re pretty perfect when recreating the specific scene that the set invokes, they aren’t very versatile if you’d like to experiment with your display.
Overall [8/10]
NECA gives a fitting tribute to a cult movie which revolutionized the way Hollywood viewed the non-mainstream comics and ushered in a new genre of big screen adaptations. The Crow’s visual style is greatly lionized even now, and with a string of (substandard) sequels, a TV series and now, rumours of a remake, it’s a cult franchise that shows little sign of slowing down. [cue: The Cure’s ‘Burn’]
