Taking flight
Crows Explode
★ ★ ★ ☆
Overview
Crows Explode is a spinoff of Crows Zero that takes place at Suzuran High School after Takiya Genji graduates. In addition to an (almost) entirely new cast, the director is also different from the original Zero movies, and although he stay true to the spirit of Crows, fans of the original will notice a definite different air about it. Also true to Crows, the fight scenes are plentiful and bloody.
The story is a little bit all over the place but it gets pulled together in the end. It keeps it interesting by not focusing too much on Kazeo.
Closer Look
Crows has some great sets, some of which are familiar from the Zero movies. The soundtrack is also fantastic, including tracks from The Street Beats, Man with a Mission, dip, and Dragon Ash, among others. There are also several band scenes in the Doberman which are a fun break from the fighting. My only complaint was that sometimes the BGM drowns out everything else that’s going on.
The cast is an interesting mix of fresh faces and well-known names. It was interesting that some of the more prominent roles went to the less experienced/less popular guys. I thought overall it was a good balance though.
Bottom Line
Fans of the series will definitely enjoy this latest installment. (Although it isn’t the same without Genji.) And even if you haven’t seen the other movies, you can still enjoy Explode as a stand-alone movie that serves up a healthy portion of yankee high school brawling and a decent storyline to boot.
★ ★ ★ ☆
Overview
Crows Explode is a spinoff of Crows Zero that takes place at Suzuran High School after Takiya Genji graduates. In addition to an (almost) entirely new cast, the director is also different from the original Zero movies, and although he stay true to the spirit of Crows, fans of the original will notice a definite different air about it. Also true to Crows, the fight scenes are plentiful and bloody.
The story is a little bit all over the place but it gets pulled together in the end. It keeps it interesting by not focusing too much on Kazeo.
Closer Look
Crows has some great sets, some of which are familiar from the Zero movies. The soundtrack is also fantastic, including tracks from The Street Beats, Man with a Mission, dip, and Dragon Ash, among others. There are also several band scenes in the Doberman which are a fun break from the fighting. My only complaint was that sometimes the BGM drowns out everything else that’s going on.
The cast is an interesting mix of fresh faces and well-known names. It was interesting that some of the more prominent roles went to the less experienced/less popular guys. I thought overall it was a good balance though.
Bottom Line
Fans of the series will definitely enjoy this latest installment. (Although it isn’t the same without Genji.) And even if you haven’t seen the other movies, you can still enjoy Explode as a stand-alone movie that serves up a healthy portion of yankee high school brawling and a decent storyline to boot.