Mark A.Z. Dippé directs Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo and Martin Sheen in this comic book adaptation where an elite mercenary is killed, but comes back from Hell as a reluctant soldier of the Devil.

The lawless 90s splurged out this abomination that mashes up Tim Burton’s Batman with Brandon Lee’s The Crow to create maybe one of the ugliest films that ever got a wide release. The opening credits are a digital grotesquerie where the names are unreadable and I’m sure everyone involved is slightly relieved by this opening gate snafu. Top billed John Leguizamo aims to be Nicholson’s Joker but his Clown is just a grating fart joke machine. The action occasionally kicks the whole thing to life but it lacks context within the grab bag plotting. A hot steaming mess.

3

Perfect Double Bill: The Crow (1994)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin