Okay friends, go ahead and crucify me. As cynical as this may sound, I must bring up what should be an extremely obvious fact: Brandon Lee was going to have nothing but a long career as an ACTION FILM STAR. What was that? Action Film Star...in no uncertain terms. And that, as they say, is that. Yes, I'll admit that his death by gunshot was ill-timed, unfortunate and tragic -- the guy shouldn't have died when he did. Period. End of story.

However, I'm quickly tiring of critics singing Lee's praises for his work in THE CROW and holding him up as some cinematic martyr who was destined for brilliance, accolades and awards. Pardon me, but did any of these same critics applaud the actor's obviously keen comic timing in SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO? Despite the lame script and poor buddy-filmisms were these same critics drooling over his electrifying charisma in RAPID FIRE? In a word, "no". Why, because it takes a tragedy to alert the vapid, braindead media to what is going on outside the big-budget world of the Baldwins, Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford.

To the credit of director Alex Proyas (who would take four years to make the hypnotic DARK CITY) THE CROW succeeds without being a ghoulish endeavor like Bruce Lee's GAME OF DEATH or a ripe comicfest like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. However, what must be remembered -- and many people are taking for granted -- is that without Lee's death, the film: a) wouldn't have looked nearly as good as it does, thanks to an extra $8 million worth of model and effects work; b) wouldn't have had an extra year to tighten up some of the cheesier parts and make the story more cohesive; and c) wouldn't have ranked as the #1 box office draw its opening weekend. In fact, chalk much of the film's success up to the destructive power of one jammed prop slug.

So what have we actually got here? Lee plays Eric Draven, a rock musician murdered on the eve of his Halloween wedding. When his restless soul stirs from the grave on the next year's Mischief Night (or Devil's Night as they call it in the Motah City), Draven seeks revenge on the thugs who were connected to the murder of he and his fiance. Period. End of story. Kill 'em all.

Had Lee lived the film would've probably plundered the more sinister depths of the dark comic that inspired it. Unfortunately, he was a bleeder. So instead the flick lurches between balls-out action, dark comedy and some truly sappy dialogue that made me wince. Too bad, because there's an adequate story lurking below the surface one the film too often fails to harness.

Would Lee have become a great screen star if his death had been avoided? No. Would he have been an adequate action star capable of entertaining star turns? Sure. Too bad that THE CROW is a less-than-fitting period to his short-lived career. Oh, and by the way, please rent SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO. It rocks.