Review of The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005) by Matthew B — 03 Mar 2009

A hard movie to rate. It's very obviously shit. Anyone can tell you that much. Just look at that cover. Despite it's poor quality it at least tries to be a bit different and give The Crow a bit more depth.

First of all the large gothic city setting is long gone. Now it is set in a small town with skyscrapers replaced by deserted landscapes. It's interesting at first, seeing such a bright Crow film. Then it just becomes confusing.

I understand that in the first Crow film Brandon Lee's character was in a rock band. His image suited his persona before his death. Edward Furlong walks around looking very out of place and it's just peculiar.

The film gives us a whole 30 minutes to get to know our future crow before his inevitable death. Good idea. The previous films chucked us straight into the action. It gives Furlongs later lust for revenge more weight and understanding.

Unfortunately before this was a bizarre introduction to the bad guys. Freeze frames, corny names, it was like some kind of western B-movie. The performances barely deserve a mention apart from Dennis Hopper.

He shows up in some club talking like a stereotypical black man. Apparently Satan is the original gangster or something. It was hilarious and embarrassing. Macy Gray was there too. Reading that back it sounds like some twisted dream.

The Crow - Wicked Prayer is pretty similar to a joke about somebody you respect that has just died. It may be fairly chucklesome, but it is in poor taste. After thinking about it, it's simply insulting.