No disrespect intended to the majority of Crow fans (I myself am one) who think that the first film and Brandon Lee's performance in it was unbeatable and way better than this film and Eric Mabius' performance. But I must disagree, and I'll also ask if all those Crow 1 / Brandon Lee fans would be so adamant that the first film and that actor were the best thing since sliced bread if Brandon hadn't tragically died at such young age. Truth is that I like The Crow : Salvation more than The Crow, and I find Eric Mabius to be a better actor and his character to be more charming than Brandon's personality. The fact that Brandon's character was half insane while Eric's was totally sane simply wasn't an advantage for Brandon. Not in my eyes, anyway. Don't get me wrong, I still like The Crow as a film and Brandon as an actor. They're what convinced me to see the two sequels, after all. But while Brandon Lee was definitely handsome, charming and a good martial artist, he just wasn't all that good an actor. I do believe that he had a very bright future ahead of him in Hollywood if his life hadn't been cut short, but it's the fact that he died at such a young age and before his career could've taken off that has given him such a legendary status among fans. On the other hand, I think that Mabius has all of Brandon's positive qualities (minus the great martial arts abilities, of course), and he's a good actor on top of that. That's what makes Salvation better than the original, even if Michael Wincott's villain in The Crow had a slightly better presence than Fred Ward's villain in Salvation. But everything about Salvation I loved  the acting, the dialogue, the plot, the violence (the execution scene and the break-out from prison were particularly well-done, fun and brutal at the same time), the soundtrack, and most of all, Eric Mabius himself. This guy simply owns the screen when the camera's pointed at him. I don't know why Dunst's name appears first, but that's an annoyance I will happily look past. It's clear that Mabius is the star of this film. The way he talks is delicious, ****SPOILER**** and he has tons of heart and rage when he addresses his friends (Dunst when she claimed she wanted to die) and adversaries (every villain he toyed with before killing them) and strangers (the drug-using stripper at the club whose age he asked before freeing her). Dunst herself isn't bad. Not a bad actress in her own right, though I doubt that's why she's got so many male fans. Her best scene was when she had informed Mabius that it was her information that had led the bad cops to his figurative door before his arrest/execution. And at least her character isn't a total damsel in distress as, while Ward's chief villain snatched her twice, it wasn't really her fault. The first time was because Mabius' friend distracted her before losing his own life, and the second time was because her gun only had one bullet in it. And considering that Ward's character is an experienced cop and she's a young civilian, it makes sense that he'll have sharper reflexes than her. Which isn't to say that this film's perfect. For one thing, it could've easily been twice as long so as to give more of a background to the villains (something that all three Crow films lack), and it was never explained how Fred Ward's character actually knew of the event which allowed Mabius to return from the dead, or why he was so obsessed with mutilating his own arm. The other villains, made up of the five corrupt officers under his command and his blonde secretary/lover, are cookie-cutter antagonists who show up only to harm innocents and then be beaten by the hero. And while I've seen Dale Midkiff and Bruce McCarthy in other films and I know them to be decent actors, they just don't have anything to do here besides being typical 1-dimentional villains (ie, needlessly violent, remorseless, having no positive aspects at all to them and good only when dead). But those small drawbacks aren't enough to take away from the genius that is Salvation. After seeing it, I only wish to smack Paul Anderson over the head for not including a character like Mabius' Alex Corvis in his Resident Evil films. As good an actor as Mabius is, he was totally wasted in RE, and he wasn't present at all in the sequel (which is a good thing for his career). But I can only wonder how the first mediocre film and the crap-filled sequel could've been improved if Alex Corvis had been around to tear off zombie heads in those two RE films. Too bad we'll never find out. Either way. To summarize, I own this film on DVD, and am very glad for it. 9.5/10.