O Corvo: Vingança Maldita

I reviewed the best and feel obliged to review "the worst?" (debatable since City of Angels is so boring). This movie is a one time watch train wreck you can't take your eyes off of. It's such a mess and such a bad movie that it is an amusing watch even if only one time. As a Crow sequel or anything even associated with The Crow comics this is a shameful thing to be hidden away from the world and forgotten about but as its own thing, a study in weirdly bad cinema it merits a viewing. From strange casting decisions to ludicrous storylines you will be mesmerized at just how bad it truly is. If you're still on the fence this should get you off of it...... Tara Reid award caliber performance, on of the corniest and most ridiculous villains you'll ever see and a Crow who cannot fight. Still on the fence? THERE IS NO FENCE!!!

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

By no means a perfect film although by far the most amazing in the series bar the first. There is something about Wicked Prayer that is so cool, an i think id have to say it is Edward Furlong. This guy really does make a good crow. Maybe because unlike the other previous Crows, he doesn't pretend or act like Brandon Lee, instead we have a much angst an angry Crow, who doesn't go out of his way to b nice to someone that isn't guilty. It makes for a difference in plot and story. Okay Boreanaz was alright up to a point, then just started to act a bit too Angelous(don't get me wrong i love Angel, an think Boreanaz is great in his series, its just that he overacts in this as Angelous). Dennis Hopper was awful, over-acting every word and statement he had to make. Sure it didn't help him that his dialogue was fairly crap and to a certain extent pointless and Tara Reid just can't act. The story its self is rather entertaining and adds originality to the crow story instead of it just being the usual re-telling of the 1st, like city of angels. I would just love it tho if the love theme from the awful third film made it into this, then at least you wouldn't have such an amazing theme linked to an awe-full film. Oh well, the music wasn't that bad, tho nor was it good. Anyway, moan the furlong, this film has certainly made me a fan of his. He was amazing, in a hugely under-rated film. I'd advise any one to watch this cause it was actually a great film.

Wicked Prayer is a departure from the previous films in that it takes place in an entirely different, unique setting. The third sequel is set in the American Southwest, and the director has created a film with a style more in line with spaghetti westerns than with the other Crow films. This immediately starts the film out on the wrong foot. The concept of a makeup-wearing avenger can be silly if it isn't treated with respect and verisimilitude, and that is a big reason why The Crow: Wicked Prayer falls flat on its face. From the very beginning of the film, when the villains are introduced with jokey subtitles featuring their nicknames and main attributes, Wicked Prayer is just too tongue-in-cheek to be compelling in any way. David Boreanaz's over-the-top, Nicholson-esquire performance doesn't help matters, and Edward Furlong simply doesn't have the acting chops or the charisma to make up for the film's numerous flaws. In the end, he turns out looking more like a mid-90's Smashing Pumpkins fan than a fearsome spirit of vengeance. Add in some embarrassingly bad wire work in the fight scenes and you have one big, bad, direct-to-video disaster. It's not even worth a rental.

I adore the Crow franchise... I love all the movies and even the T.V show on occasion.

But lets face it, Wicked Prayer was the worst movie to date. The original was fantastic, as they always are, the second (City of Angels) was passable, but Vincent Perez was great as the Crow. Salvation, my second favourite, made use of some amazing young talent... But Wicked Prayer?! No. David Boreanez is a great actor, I think he did an amazing job as Angel in Buffy and Angel, Tara Reid is great in all her other movies... But so miscast in this it's untrue... The new crow, not too bad, but far too underplayed! Where's the angst? The special effects were lousy to say the least and it seemed the director was too interested I'm piling up the body count than making a genuine love/revenge story that the entire crow fiction centres upon.

I honestly have to steer people away, as only the true die-hard fans would want to see it, for the sake of saying they have seen it. Every one else would be put off the movies for good!