Not being familiar with the manga upon which this movie franchise is based, I have nothing to compare it to. So it is solely based on seeing the movie alone that I can review this 2014 movie.First and foremost, I must say that the fight scenes in the movie were plenty and often quite good. But with that being said, I should also move straight on to saying that this movie was essentially nothing else than just one pointless fight scene after another.I managed to last one hour into this movie before I gave up out of sheer and utter pointlessness to the movie. It was nothing else except fighting, and that wore thin already within the first half hour. But I decided to stick with it, as I would assume that the movie would pick up and add some story-telling to the layers. But no, that was not to be.There was no storyline to "Crows: Explode" (aka "Kurôzu Explode"), none whatsoever. And that fact was something that the movie suffered from tremendously.I just threw in the towel after 1 hour and I am not going to return to finish this movie, and I am not going to take the time to watch any of the other movies, because the torment of watching this for one hour was more than enough.I can't even comment on the acting in the movie, because there was literally no acting in it to base such a comment on. I am sure that people in the movie were good enough fighters in each their own way, but it just didn't appeal to me in any way.This is definitely for a fans of the manga, but for anyone looking for an entertaining movie that is driven by a story, stay well clear of this one.

This Crows movie is GAY!!!!Let me be clear, I am an avid Crows-X-Worst and I have read the mangas including side stories but I am clearly not impressed with the movie unlike Crows Zero 1 & 2 did. The following supports my review.Plot - the plot is a mediocre REMAKE of Crows Zero 1 since I think it's a lot the same. The King of the Hill fight/s for example, for me was the signature scene of CZ1 and I don't think using the same will yield the same impact as the first movie did. Although on the manga, fighting for the top spot is prevalent and the movies does not follow the exact storyline but I am sure the makers could possibly make something more interesting than this from the comics which will wow the audience. For instance, instead of having the King of the Hill fight as the main scene, they could instead make an all out war between Otsu Group(Yakuza) and a one-time unity between all leading factions of Suzuran and alliance with Kurosaki Industrial. It's up to them how to detail the connections on the participants on the war. Fight Scenes - this is the best factor which really disappointed me. Unlike the previous movies where fights were brutal and extremely violent and bloody, it was natural to expect to see the same. But I am very disappointed with those half-ass-ed fights. Honestly, the feeling of excitement from Kagami and Ryohei's brawl was not even worth comparing to Genji and Serizawa's fight to the top. On a side note, I guess the movie guys were told to minimize the violence in the movies, I don't know who reprimanded who but this is just my guess.Lastly, to explain as to why I still rate the movie with 5/10 though it totally left a bad after taste was because they added or should I say enhanced a movie effect/factor, that is the Emotional movie scenes and/or inputs. Let me cite examples which made me appreciate this movie.a. Each main character like Kagami, Ryohei, Shibata and Fujiwara were introduced with back stories with different levels of sadness and emotion.b. Ken Katagiri was already understood to live a normal life in the 2nd movie and acts as support to some characters. I appreciate the role they had for Ken in this movie because he stood not only as an Suzuran alum but also the straightened out Jarhead Ken. Adding a bit of romance between a woman also adds interest in his character.c. The camaraderie between the boys are still decided or leveled with fistfight but, since the characters had deep seated emotional back stories, the friendship they like to show was way more emotional(not that strong and manly) making the bond look like the typical Crows-X-Worst way. Lastly, the movie was not that exciting and thrilling to watch because if you're following the mangas, you will get the feeling of disappointment that they are not advancing to the real storyline on the manga. I know everyone has been waiting for Bouya to come out, honestly I initially thought this will be the prequel movie having the Maki-Pon-Hiromi VS Hideto Bandou characters before officially introducing Bouya but to my disappointment it was not.To sum it up, the makers REALLY need to improve the next movie(if they will still make one) or at least level it up with the first two movies. If they will continue this, chances are, they will defame the Crows-X-Worst mangas prestige also affecting our dear Hiroshi Takahashi's name(which we don't want, right?) and most likely that their upcoming movie adaptation will not sell. Cheers.

Seriously guys?? what's with the review? It didn't help people who didn't watch the movie yet.As someone who watch Crow Zero and Crow Zero 2, and read the WHOLE 'Crows' manga, this movie is really bad. Not only it's not connected to any Crow series, the plotting is bad. I know, the director doesn't want to make it similar to the Crow manga and bla bla bla.. It's just like Crow Zero (1), main character comes to the "Crow" school as senior, not a junior, are destined to conqueror the school and in the end trying to defeat the unmatched guy in the school, Rindaman. At least Crow Zero (1) was unique.The Fighting scene, gurhh~~ really, really, really bad. Most of the guys just know how to punch using the right hand and swing it wide and kick using the right foot. Only the dynamite guy got some good move. Even though Shun Oguri not that good with fighting seen, at least he made it look real. I'm writing this sincerely. If the director want to make a 3rd movie, he should at least consider where to put the storyline as the Crow Zero as the title suggested, Zero = Prequel to Crows story. Maybe he just should make it after the storyline of Crows series.

I am gonna come right out and say it: "Crows Explode" is my favorite entry in the Crows-franchise.When I heard the news about a new Crows movie I was excited. Even more so when it was clear that Toshiaki Toyoda will be in the director's chair. I really enjoyed the previous Crows movies and Toyoda's "Blue Spring". They show a very unique, if stylized, filmic portrayal of the high school delinquent topic.The combination of Toyoda and Crows works perfectly and results in a Crows movie that really feels like a fresh take the material. Compared to its predecessors "Crows Explode" sticks more to the manga source material and presents a wider array of characters. Admittedly none of them sticks out the way Genji Takiya did but they don't need to. The story works even if the characters aren't as defined as in the previous Crows movies. Aside from that the story follows the same formula as before - nothing special here. The way the characters and locations are designed & presented feels even more stylized and over the top than before. But here it really works to the films advantage. I always felt like "Crows Zero" and "Crows Zero II" never quite managed to find the right balance between realism and the highly stylized action, weird Asian humor and exaggerated drama. Unfortunately "Crows Explode" lacks the humor completely. But what I liked best were all these homages (small & big ones) to the first two crows movies and even "Blue Spring". From the soundtrack to the set design this film is overflowing with elements reminiscent of the franchise's history. Although I gotta say that I would've liked the soundtrack to be more extensive. Especially from Toyoda I expected "Crows Explode" to be exploding (pun intended) with all the timelessly cool songs from "The Mods", "Thee Michelle Gun Elephant" and "The Birthday". I mean they did it before and it worked great why make it different this time?It's kind of funny. I watched the first two movies while I was graduating from school myself so I basically grew with them. They taught me not to have any regrets for my youth and to stay loyal to the people that went on the journey of growing up together with me. It also taught me that we will all have to grow up eventually but should never forget where we once came from. I'd like to see this recent entry in the franchise teaching these principles to a new generation of young viewers who now stand where I stood before them. And I gotta say so far it does this fairly well.