The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

Director:

Lance Mungia

Writers (WGA):

Norman Partridge (novel) (inspiration)
James O'Barr (comic book series and comic strip The Crow)

Release Date:

14 September 2005 (Philippines)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

He will not rest until he gets his vengeance.

Plot:

On his way to becoming an immortal demon, gangleader Luc Crash (Boreanaz) orchestrates the murder of Jimmy Cuervo (Furlong) and his girlfriend, Lily (Chriqui).

Plot Keywords:

The Crow | Fourth Part | Based On Comic Book | Back From The Dead | Sequel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Yuji Okumoto	...	Pestilence
Marcus Chong	...	War
Tito Ortiz	...	Famine
Tara Reid	...	Lola Byrne
David Boreanaz	...	Luc Crash / Death / Satan
Rosemberg Salgado	...	The Priest
Edward Furlong	...	Jimmy Cuervo / The Crow
Emmanuelle Chriqui	...	Lilly
Danny Trejo	...	Harold
Dave Baez	...	Tanner (as Dave L. Ortiz)
David Lea	...	Bartender (as Dave Lea)
Richard Cumba	...	Moses
Kristina Santoro	...	Pregnant Bride
Kelsey Landry	...	Waitress #1 (as Kelsy Landry)
Ashley Christensen	...	Waitress #2

Also Known As:

The Crow 4 (USA) (working title)
Wicked Prayer (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language throughout, some sexual and drug content.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | USA:R (certificate #40972) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Singapore:M18 | Philippines:R-13 | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

Actress Alexa Havins was scheduled to appear in the movie but was unable to film her scenes due to scheduling conflicts after joining the ABC daytime soap opera, "All My Children" (1970)

Goofs:

Continuity: At the Rav'n ball, Famine gets all padded up in baseball gear but moments later when he goes crazy and starts smashing a table with a baseball bat all the gear is missing.

Quotes:

Luc Crash: Sorry folks, I'd slit all your throats, but I gotta get to the burial grounds.

Movie Connections:

References "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979)

Soundtrack:

In The Desert

Easily the Weakest of the Four

Greetings I'm afraid Crow fans are going to be in for a disappointment. 'Wicked Prayer', it starts out quite strong but rapidly loses steam. David Boreanaz, who should be well known by now at the very least for excellent villains, is not given much room here. I don't think it was his fault; what he could do, he did do but the role just didn't have much.

The plot is lacking seriously, the mythology is entirely corrupted (The Crows power does NOT come from love thank you very much), and the fight scenes, aside from the initial murder, are pathetic.

Which is a shame really because there was a half hearted effort to make the four bad guys, Famine, Pestilence, War and Death more than just another series of bad guys like T-Bird's gang, and Curve's boys or those cops in the underrated third movie. They were, from time to time unnerved by the violence, but this plot thread was crushed by how easily and half-heartedly they were lured back to evil deeds.

The biggest disappointment was their ends; perhaps it was budget constraints but there was near zero visceral satisfaction. I'm bloodthirsty, sue me.

Also a lot of the drama, what little of it was built up, was totally savaged by Danny Tregjo's native American 'Crow Dance'. Tregjo makes one of the bad-assest Mexican bag-guys/evil doers/violence loving vigilantes on screen today. He can even pull off a good priest and a so-so mourning father. What he cannot do, tattoo laden pectoral muscles flopping around like half empty water balloons, is a American Indian ceremonial dance. Not, at least, without my jaw hitting the floor before I follow after holding my ribs in a fit of hysterics.

I was incredibly sceptical of Eddie Furlong in the title role but heard good things from the crew on the film and, having seen him in the irony mask, felt my concern ebb. Truth be told he did have a few good moments but his pain was never convincing, not for one. single. second. Acting enraged, pained, tormented is a key part of the Crow's character and he just did not have it. He can't even compare to Vincent Perez's little tantrum in front of Spider Monkey. Don't even try to contrast Furlong with Mabius' first humorous curiosity, then growing rage, or God Forbid, Brandon Lee's near perfect representation of pain.

My biggest beef? The lighting. The entire movie was well lit. No darkness, no shadows. Everyone meandered about either in full time sun, or well lit night scenes. And that was a physical representation of this entire film: It wasn't dark enough.

The Crow: Wicked Prayer, easily the weakest of the four. While I hate to admit it I think this franchise has gone as far as it can.

I remain, as always, Mad-Hamlet