The Crow: Salvation (2000) is better than what I expected. Although the straight-to-video feel is apparent during the action scenes, Salvation is a really good sequel in the Crow series. Let me tell you, it's a lot better than City of Angels, which (in my opinion) just didn't capture the feel of the first Crow film. Anyway, the story this time around is this:<br /><br />Lauren Randall (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) was brutally murdered by being raped and stabbed 53 times. Her boyfriend, Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius), is wrongfully accused and is sentenced to die by way of electrocution. Alex claimed that he was innocent, and that a man with strange markings on his arm is the real killer. Regardless, on Alex's twenty-first birthday, he is electrocuted. But due to lightning striking the prison, Alex receives more of a harsh death. It doesn't help that the man with the scar on his arm watched. The Crow brings Alex back from the dead to bring justice upon those who have killed Lauren and to find the scarred man. Since he was electrocuted, Alex's face is horribly burned. The men who did him wrong are Vincent Erlich (Dale Midkiff), Phillip Dutton (Bill Mondy), Stan Robbers (Walt Goggins), and Martin Toomey (Tim DeKay), all of whom are corrupted police officers. As Alex begins to kill the guilty, he proves his innocence to Lauren's sister Erin (Kirsten Dunst), who's deeply distraught over her sister's death. Erin's father Nathan (William Atherton) is also having trouble coping. As Alex is unleashing carnage upon the police officers, The Captain (Fred Ward) becomes extremely interested in Alex and the legendary Crow. Alex gets more than he bargained for, however, when his actions causes Erin to be in fatal danger. <br /><br />The violence is of course bloody/gory, but this time it actually feels justified like the first time with Eric. Plus, it's always good to see police officers get theirs when death is knocking on the door. Alex uses his healing powers more often than his predecessors, either from the actual need to heal or just to be playful. A common occurrence in all three Crow movies seems to be that each hero is shot repeatedly by several people, which undoubtedly proves their short-lived immortality. Alex, unlike Ashe from the second film, has fun with his victims while he tortures/kills them. It's a better follow-up to the first film.<br /><br />The acting was decent, but nothing mind-blowing. Eric Mabius seemed to have more fun doing the action scenes than the deep/heart-felt scenes (trust me, it shows). Kirsten Dunst, surprisingly, is both pretty and can act good. Everyone else isn't convincing in their roles. Sorry to make yet another comparison to the first film, but what made the first film stand-out is that the villains had depth and each one was unique. In both Crow sequels, the villains are introduced and then they face off with The Crow. Zero depth. Just all typical "tough" villains that try too hard to be considered evil/brutal. <br /><br />While it's no masterpiece, Salvation pulls its weight and manages to be really good. Just skip over City of Angels and see this instead. Still, although it's not perfect, The Crow series is one of my personal favorite movie series. I can't wait to see what they do with the fourth one. I give The Crow: Salvation (2000) a 7 out of 10.