The Crow: Wicked Prayer Script Review

Script Review

After many months of non-activity, fans were given the first sign of real progress in regard to the latest chapter in the Crow franchise on May 29th 2003 when the news of principle character casting for The Crow: Wicked Prayer was announced. With that has come much speculation about whether or not the script can live up to what appears to be a solid cast. In my opinion, the cast is going to have to live up to how good the script is. It is that good.

From the very start, this script is different. The urban decay of the previous three films is gone. In its place is the desert southwest. Along with the harsh elements come characters that are as coarse and unpredictable as the desert itself.

We have a hero that is flawed. Jimmy Cuervo has a past that begs to question why would the crow even see him worthy of this mission. Jimmy is an outsider even in his own skin. The local Native American's look upon him with disgust and everyone else looks upon him with shame. Despite his flaws, there is one who sees the good in him, Lily Ignites The Dawn. She represents the only good in his life. She represents everything in his life.

Luc Crash and Lola Byrne lead a group of three other men (War, Famine & Pestilence), known as the "Four Horseman of the Apocalypse". They are fueled by a hatred for the local community that has, in their minds, kept them down. Luc and Lola foster a special resentment for the cards dealt them early on in life. (We are given a sense for what brought the villains to their current state of pain/resentment. This is an element missing from previous Crow films) Luc is the leader; it is his vision, his desire, that the others follow. Lola is Luc's ticket to revenge. It is through her ability to channel the power of Satan that they mean to exact their own setting of the wrong things right. The villains are not part of a larger gang or establishment. It is just the five of them, in their minds, against the whole world. A very good change from past stories in my opinion.

The script for Wicked Prayer pulls the story from the novel into a more personal focus. There are elements of rituals and spells, but they serve only as the means for Luc & Lola to take their revenge, not as a focus of the story. Personal failure, self-doubt, revenge, are shared and constant themes of all the characters. Not since Top Dollar have we had a lead villain that has the potential to chew up every scene as Luc does. The other members of the "Four Horseman" are given an element of humanity missing in villains of previous sequels. Along with the principle storyline, we have the struggle of a Native American people who are trying to hold on to their heritage, yet forced to commercialize it for the sake of preserving the community as a whole. This puts them at odds with each other as well as with the rest of the town they represent.

Dark humor, an element absent in the previous two sequels, but used effectively in the first film, is back. Some of the best lines to date in the Crow franchise are found within the pages of the Wicked Prayer script.

With more focus on the characters, as well as multi-layered social themes, the script for Wicked Prayer stands as an example that we can sometimes, just sometimes, return to the glory of the past.

April 23rd, 2004
Another Review Of Wicked Prayer Script

We featured the first and only script review for Wicked Prayer last year. Well, now another review of the script has flown through our window! Check out what "Chuck" has to say about the Crow: Wicked Prayer script:

Hey guys got a Wicked Prayer script review for you. I was told this draft was pretty much what they filmed. Let me start off by saying I have read every Crow script except Lazarus. How does Wicked Prayer measure up? Well it doesn't, the other scripts (even the first) don't measure up to it!! It's really that good folks. If you've been following Wicked Prayer at all there is really no need for me to give story details. I'll just say this movie is part western + love story + martial arts= Wicked Prayer. The whole thing has a very dream like quality to it, like you are watching someone's dream or nightmare unfold. Now I will break it down for you even more:

Favorite things for me:

Jimmy is a great character. His love for Lily is all he has and wants. After their deaths his reluctance to kill is stemmed from a past event in his life involving Lily. You really get the feeling since Lily's dead; all he wants is to die so he can be with her. His anger not only stems from their murder but also that he's been delayed his time with Lily. However, once he finally accepts his mission, it is on. He dishes out some serious retribution to all the baddies.

You actually have well developed characters. You see Lily before her death; you see her relationship with Jimmy real-time, not in all flashbacks as in previous Crow films. The baddies actually have an explained back story.

The story has so much black humor that has really been missing from the films. Jimmy and Luc easily have the sharpest lines.

I love the desert setting; it gives the story the whole western vibe, not to mention some characters are referred to as gunslingers sizing each other up.

The film is very brutal. The fight scenes are amazing on the page. The film may have a lot of unseen but implied gore.

Well there you have it. I give the script a lot of credit for being fresh but keeping consistent with the Crow mythos. I have no doubt that Edward Furlong and company can easily pull it off. I can't wait to see this thing in whatever form it's released. Thanks to Chuck for passing this on to us. Now, we just need the film to be released sometime this decade!

Take care...