The Crow: Salvation 2000

In Salt Lake City, Alex Corvis is framed for the murder of his girlfriend, Lauren Randall, and sentenced to death. Three years pass, and he faces a brutal end in the electric chair as a sudden flare of lightning seems to overload the apparatus, sending a jolt of pain through him and sealing his fate.

The Crow resurrects Alex Corvis in the prison morgue, bestowing him with supernatural abilities that allow a dramatic escape and a burning resolve to avenge Lauren’s death. Following the crow, he tracks down clues that point to a group of corrupt cops who killed Lauren, with one officer bearing a distinctive scar on his arm that matches the mark seen just before the execution. At Lauren’s grave, he encounters Erin Randall, where an angel statue weeps a bloody tear. Erin is convinced of his guilt, but Alex swears he will prove his innocence.

As the search for the truth unfolds, Alex discovers Thomas Leonard, the witness bribed to provide false testimony. He compels Leonard to confess that four members of the police force killed Lauren: Martin Toomey, Vincent Erlich, Stan Roberts, and Phillip Dutton. Unbeknownst to him, a fifth officer, Madden, was also involved, shaping a web of corruption that reaches into the highest echelons of power.

Alex’s path of vengeance begins in earnest as he takes down Dutton while rescuing two young girls he happens to save from a would-be sexual assault. Dutton’s earlier attempt to attack Lauren ends with her taking his gun and shooting Erlich, a fact that later helps establish the deeper conspiracy. Alex then targets Erlich, who had assaulted his lawyer Peter Walsh at the office and hijacked his car. A high-stakes police chase ensues, culminating in a fiery crash that destroys Erlich’s car—and even a police helicopter—before Alex lets the crucial list of cops he’s targeting slip away, where it is eventually recovered by Roberts and Toomey. The ensuing evidence points to Nathan Randall, Erin and Lauren’s father, who is entangled in business with the corrupt cops, making him indirectly responsible for Lauren’s death. Erin, confronted with the truth, flees from her father’s shadow.

With orders from The Captain and his secretary (the latter also a link to the actor Kelly Haren), Madden moves against Leonard, while Roberts and Toomey press him for details about the killings of Dutton and Erlich. Although Leonard claims it was Alex, the officers who killed Dutton and Erlich pay the price for their betrayal, and Leonard’s own life is lost, leaving a child orphaned. Alex confronts Walsh again about the dealings with the dirty cops and the company DERT, which serves as a front for smuggling. Erin admits guilt for having aided law enforcement by revealing where Lauren could be found, and Alex, with his powers, shows her that Lauren fought hard against her assailants and that Erin can find forgiveness for herself.

As Book heads to the prison with Madden and the secretary to investigate the prison escape, they discover Alex’s body is missing from the morgue, and the broken mirror bears the Crow insignia, confirming Alex’s return. Erin returns home to discover her father dead, a result of a confrontation with Book earlier. Walsh’s dying clue reveals that Nathan’s business ties to DERT expose a drug-smuggling front, tightening the noose around the conspirators.

The climactic confrontation unfolds as Book and Madden infiltrate Walsh’s office, fatally wounding Walsh and kidnapping Erin. A clue Walsh leaves ahead of his death points Alex toward answers, and at the Key Club, Alex uncovers that Lauren had witnessed Roberts killing a man named Sampson, which precipitated her murder. A brutal shootout erupts with Roberts, Toomey, and a squad of cops; Alex uses a severed pipe from the ceiling to impale Roberts, obliterating the remaining officers. Madden arrives, but a stray gunshot triggers a catastrophic gas leak, killing Toomey in the ensuing explosion. Among the rubble, a dismembered arm bearing the distinctive zig-zag scar appears, hinting that the killer is among the crowd.

The Crow senses Alex’s sense of duty has been met, and although his healing power wanes after a vision of a different Lauren, the moment is brief. A dying clue from Walsh finally reveals that Book is the mastermind behind the murders of Lauren and Thomas, and the frame that set up Alex. Erin passes Lauren’s locket to the Crow, who places it beside Alex as a symbol of love and truth. The locket’s presence revives Alex, restoring his powers and enabling him to free Erin and vanquish Madden and the secretary. Book gives chase, but Erin escapes, and Alex exposes Book’s arm, confirming the zig-zag scar as the telltale mark of the schemer behind the night’s horrors.

In the final act, Alex and Erin escort Book to the electric chair and bring him to cremation, ending his reign of manipulation. With Book gone, Alex’s soul finally finds its release, reuniting with Lauren, while Erin keeps Lauren’s necklace as a tangible reminder of the truth and the vow they share.