The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

On his way to becoming an immortal demon, a gang leader orchestrates the murder of an ex-con and his girlfriend.

Director:

Lance Mungia

Writers:

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

Stars:

Yuji Okumoto, Marcus Chong, Tito Ortiz

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Emmanuelle Chriqui	...	Lilly
Danny Trejo	...	Harold
Dave Baez	...	Tanner (as Dave L. Ortiz)
Ryan Smith	...	Native Teen
Daymond John	...	Proud Foot Joe
Richard Cumba	...	Moses
Kristina Santoro	...	Pregnant Bride
Kelsey Daniels	...	Waitress #1 (as Kelsy Landry)

Storyline

Jimmy Cuervo is a down-on-his-luck ex-con living in a polluted mining town on a reservation that would run him out of town if not for the remainder of his probation. With his time nearly finished, he plans to start a new life with his girlfriend Lily , and leave the town for good. But Luc Crash and Lola Byrne head up a local gang of local Satanists who murder Jimmy and Lily in a brutally ritualistic slaying that they hope will conjure the rebirth of the Antichrist. When the legend of the Crow returns Jimmy from the dead, Jimmy heads out on a one-man path of vengeance that will lead him to El Nino, the leader of the gang that Luc and Lola are in.

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Plot Keywords:

repeat sequel | killing an animal | offscreen murder | murder of a pregnant woman | tragic event | 

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Taglines:

Passion..Revenge...Eternity.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 2005 (Philippines)

Also Known As:

The Crow 4

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Edward R. Pressman Film, Jeff Most Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main character is called Jimmy Cuervo. Cuervo means Crow in Spanish.

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Goofs

(at around 2 mins) When Pestilence pulls up in the mining area, his window is open and his elbow hanging out. The next shot of his car, a few seconds later, shows the window shut.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Famine: Like some more salsa with that?

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Connections

References The Lone Ranger (1938)

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Soundtracks

In The Desert
Music by Jamie Christopherson
Lyrics by Jamie Christopherson
Performed by The Gunslingers
Featuring Lance Mungia

User Reviews

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