Hey folks, Harry here with a look at THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER - the new CROW film from Lance Mungia - the cool as hell director of SIX STRING SAMURAI! I had an enormous amount of hope for this film as SIX STRING SAMURAI is one of my absolute favorite indie indies that we've ever found on AICN! The film is beautiful, but ultimately - I really dislike David Boreanaz and Tara Reid as actors - and this film doesn't change that opinion. However, Marcus Chong and Eddie Furlong are pretty outstanding in the film. Well, here's a full on review by a bird loving soul returning superfreak... Beware of Spoilers, it hits on DVD on July 19th!
Have never posted a review on your site, so not sure how I should be
doing this but here is my review of the latest Crow film which had its
premiere last night.
THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER a review
Hello, LLcruize here from the Crow fan site A Boy & His Bird. Finally,
after what seems like a lifetime, THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER had its
official premiere at the AMC Pacific Place Theatre in Seattle
Washington, on Friday, June 3rd. It will play at the AMC Pacific Place
for a week, then it will have a direct to video release on Tuesday,
July 19th. This review is purposely low in spoilers and scene specific
information. It is not my intent to spoil the movie for you, but to
give you my overall opinion of each element.
THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER is inspired by the same-name novel by Norman
Partridge. The story keeps the desert setting and satanic gang element
from the novel, but changes up pretty much everything else. Luc Crash
and Lola Byrne (David Boreanaz and Tara Reid respectively) lead a gang
called the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (Marcus Chong, Tito Ortiz &
Yuji Okumato round out the gang). They have been individually wronged
and together, they seek justice. To realize this justice, they must
take the blue eyes of a girl with a Native American heritage and the
heart of a killer. Enter Lily Ignites the Dawn and Jimmy Cuervo
(Emmanuelle Chrique and Eddie Furlong). Jimmy is about to be free from
the shackles that have kept him in town. His plan is to marry Lily and
leave town, taking Lily with him. Unfortunately, this is not to be as
Lily and Jimmy fall victim to the Four Horesman's plans. Jimmy comes
back, empowered by the crow, to take his revenge and stop the gang
from completing their satanic ritual. The irony of the story is
Jimmy's revenge will mean he saves the town that despises him.
LOOK
THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER marks a return to a stylized form of film
making. Each scene, especially early on, is like a framed poetic piece
of art work. That word "poetic" was used by quite a few folks when
describing various scenes. The film/story is set in the desert
Southwest. Everything has dust/sand on it. There is a natural haze
that seemingly lifts once night fall comes. Gone is the urban decay of
previous stories. This dusty/dirty atmosphere helps to establish the
film as a modern western tale.
STORY / ACTION
This film presents a lot of social issues and those are played out
nicely during the film. The local community is odds over the mine in
their town being closed to allow for a casino to be built. The one
thing that the town can agree on is nobody likes Jimmy Cuervo (Eddie
Furlong). This conflict pits the Native American community against
the rest of the community. This conflict, in part, lends to some of
the reasons why the Four Horseman gang featured in the film are
seeking revenge. The gang believes THEY are righting wrongs. This
clash of missions with Jimmy's will make for some interesting
discussion by fans. Also, the dislike of Jimmy sets his character up
to be a truer representation of the anti-hero created by James O'Barr
in his original story. This is the one element that really captured my
interest in the script and it is played out beautifully through the
film.
The story is spiritual in nature. Native American mythos are added to
the ever growing mythology of this franchise. The satanic themes
presented may or may not appeal to everyone. Some who saw the film
with me were a bit bothered by the satanic imagery and themes. It
didn't bother me because there is a balance of this super natural
element a long with the Native American spirituality and social
themes. In my opinion, the satanic element highlights the despair the
whole gang is in and represents a reaching out to the easiest way for
them to deal with their pain. These people are not entirely evil,
which is evidenced through some very well done moments in the story
where the gang isn't so sure of themselves. This humanizes these
characters that have in previous Crow films been nothing more than
cartoon characters lined up for the slaughter. Jimmy could easily have
fallen into this gang. Were it not for the love of Lily, he may well
have. It is this tip toeing of the line between who is good and evil
that makes the story fascinating.
Action is straight on, not a lot of martial arts. Wires are used from
time to time, but other than that, the action is raw and emotional.
There are no car chases, no exaggerated fighting styles. This is bare
knuckle action and it fits the setting and story perfectly. I really
liked that the action was not over the top.
ACTING / DIALOGUE
By far, Eddie Furlong (Jimmy Cuervo/The Crow) gives the best
performance in the film; and well he should. This is his film to
either make work or not and he brings forth an emotional and tragic
performance. He has some great lines and he delivers all of them dead
on. Having read the script numerous times, I was anxious to hear/see
his delivery of some of my favorite lines. He flat nailed them and in
a few cases, really surprised me with a delivery I did not expect.
Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lily) who plays Eddie's love interest and catalyst
for his return is fantastic. She conveys the beauty, strength and love
that the role called for.More so than any previous film in the
franchise, Emmanuelle (Lily) has a lot more to do in the story than
just being the damsel in distress.
David Boreanaz (Luc Crash/Death) does a good job as Luc, though his
later scenes channeling Satan are a bit too animated in my opinion.
Luckily, he is not Satan for long enough to derail the film, but I
would have liked a more reigned in performance when he finally
channeled Satan. He does such a good job as Luc, it is a shame he ends
the film hamming it up.
Tara Reid (Lola Byrne) gives a really subdued and tragic performance,
she does a great job. I know she takes a lot of flack for playing the
same character over and over, but she does bring an element of tragedy
to Lola Byrne.
As for the rest of the gang, Marcus Chong (War) is the anchor of the
gang and does a great job delivering, in many cases, poetic verses in
the midst of chaos. Yuji Okumato (Pestilence) steals practically every
scene he is in. He does a great send up of a wannabe cowboy and his
"western" accent is a hoot. Some may remember him as the villain
opposite Ralph Machio in Karate Kid 2. The biggest surprise was Tito
Ortiz (Famine). I half expected him to be totally out of place
amongst the "real" actors, but he holds his own and is a steady
presence.
David Ortiz (Sheriff Tanner) is really good. His scenes with Eddie are
some of my favorites from an acting/dialogue aspect. Danny Trejo
(Harold) is always good and he delivers once again in a supporting
role. Rounding out the cast is Rena Owen (Mary), who gives a short,
but emotional performance. Richard Cumba (Moses), like Rena, has a
short role but makes the most of it. He plays a preacher who has a
past with Luc. His confrontation with Luc (Boreanaz) is one of David's
best scenes. Daymond John (Proud Foot Joe) is OK, definitely not an
actor, though he doesn't have a lot of scenes that require him to
"act". He does have one of the movie's funniest moments when he comes
upon a newly resurrected Jimmy Cuervo.
Dennis Hopper (El Nino) is good, albeit he is saddled with some of the
worst lines in the movie. I never liked the gansta' lingo his
character uses when I read the script and as feared, it sounds as out
of place as it reads. Hopper makes what is basically a cameo, so his
dialogue is not around long enough to do any real harm. The last
performance to speak of is Macy Gray (Cara Mae, bodyguard for Hopper's
Nino character). She is…..well, she is Macy Gray. Not even close to
being an acting talent, Gray basically is a presence and thankfully,
her "presence" is short-lived.
WHAT KILLED (what I liked the best)
The opening sequence, with its tip of the 10 gallon hat to THE GOOD,
THE BAD & THE UGLY intro of the gang is great and sets the tone
perfectly. Jimmy and Lily's intros are great. It was a nice to
actually see both lovers alive at the beginning, where we can see them
relate to each other rather than relying on flashbacks to establish
their relationship. This adds strength to our empathy/sympathy for
Jimmy later on. Jimmy's resurrection is done perfectly, a lot of
emotion.
The music is absolutely fantastic. Jamie Christopherson's score is THE
best, in my opinion, to date. It uses guitars, harmonicas, brass, all
the elements that you would expect from a western setting.This is the
first Crow film without the benefit of a rock soundtrack. In my
opinion having a score-only soundtrack works perfectly given the
desert setting.
As I mentioned before, Eddie Furlong's performance is spot on. He has
the crux of responsibility in this film and he handles it beautifully.
His character is very different from previous Crow films. He is torn
when he comes back. He doesn't want to be there, he wants to be with
Lily. Eddie does a great job conveying this pain. Eventually he
accepts that this is the only way to be with Lily again. Emmanuelle is
a dream, you can feel her love for Jimmy and the strength she has.
The villains overall are a much improved element over previous
sequels. The beauty of this film is for the first time, we see the
villains as humans. They have back stories that we are given glimpses
into through their introductions and flashback sequences.
As I mentioned, Lance's style is great to watch. The camera angles and
shots are beautiful. The editing is near flawless with some very nice
transition scenes that go from real-time to flashback back to
real-time with beautiful results. I would have to say that for the
first time in the sequels, we have a very technically sound film here.
There was great care and work put into this film during
post-production and it shows.
Finally, the ending is one of the best since the first film from an
emotional level. It is beautifully shot and executed; you will be
moved by it. Again, the word "poetic" comes up time and again when I
look for a way to describe the look and feel of this film.
WHAT DIED (stuff I didn't like)
My only complaint with the film is the 3rd act. This is when Luc has
channeled Satan and he and Lola are married to further consummate the
union. The wedding itself is fine, but as I mentioned before, David
Boreanaz, in my opinion, is too far over the top. The dialogue David
has during this part of the film is sprinkled with a tongue-n-cheek
tone, but his delivery works against the intent, in my opinion. There
are a few exceptions, such as when he and Reid are leaving the church
he nails a line that is one of his funniest in the film and really got
a great reaction. He obviously tries to take a page from Jack
Nicholson's slant on the Joker from the first BATMAN film, but goes
two pages instead.
Hopper's dialogue is cringe worthy in the 3rd act. I had hoped perhaps
the delivery of the lines would improve them from the last script I
had read. But as feared, the gangsta' lingo sounds out of place and I
wish it would have been changed. Thankfully the 4th act gets things
back on the right track and redeems the shortcomings of the 3rd.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The film for me has been like a road trip. Since my site has covered
the pre-production, production and post-production extensively, I feel
like we have been a long for the ride. It was a road trip that has
seen a lot of detours, missed exits, closed sections of highway and
delays. But in the end, through all the miles of traveling and
adventures in between, the final destination is worth it. The film
deserves more than the one-week theatrical engagement it has, but
atleast some fans will get to experience this film the way it should
be. The rest will get to enjoy the fantastic job done by all when it
hits video/DVD on July 19th.
My rating is 4 crows out of 5.
LLcruize / Co-webmaster of A Boy & His Bird
