*1/2 out of ****
well, for the good things, the look of the film is nice and red. From previous entries the series has mostly used dark colors for the backdrop of the films. Edward Furlong does a surprisingly good job here and David Borneos does good too. The music sounds appropriate for the theme of the film and the storyline involving the main character is a neat concept.
The storyline is as follows, Jimmy Cuervo is murdered alongside his girlfriend as part of a strange satanic ritual. Jimmy rises from the dead to avenge the death of him and his girlfriend. The film takes place in Mexico and the two lovers weren't meant to be as the girlfriend's father doesn't want her to hang out with a murderer. This is the first time the murder victim isn't innocent as he is a convicted killer. This concept can work great.
In a perfect world it can work great, but the film doesn't work. Instead of focusing on the protagonist, the viewers experience with the film is constrained to the villains. The film focuses on the demon worshipers and the rituals and almost never focuses on Jimmy Cuervo.
It's disappointing because the demon worship plot line isn't interesting. it s made even worse by the fact that the audience is supposed to get to know the bad guys more than the hero. This doesn't work either because the bad guys are not interesting or evil enough to really spend time focusing on.
The other crow films featured outstanding villains and more of a sense of reason for killing them. We can't just get to know bad guys knowing that they will be killed. The film should have been more about the hero and his struggles.
To be fair, the head villain is suitably idiotic enough for comic relief. Tara Reid plays his sidekick, but she doesn't have much to do here except to change her mind on the killings. The other villains have back-stories, sure, but they don't have any spirit in their parts.
Speaking of which, the normally good Dennis Hopper is terrible in this film as an annoying Ebonics worshiping boss man. His lines aren't funny, his character is weird, and his reason for being in the film adds nothing. Macy Grey plays a brief but cute role. The murder scenes have no context or a sense of meaning or surprise. They range from a baseball bat to the head, to a heart ripping, to an actual suicide!!! What the hell?! This film was all the more disappointing due to the director Lance Mungia directed one of my favorite films(SIX STRING SAMURAI) and to know that he has talent makes the film seem all the more better, yet worse. Because of this fact, I cannot hate this film. Its not the worst film in the world, and i could watch it again without hesitation. But this film is disappointing for a fan of the crow films.
Rated R for violence and language throughout, some sexual and drug content.
well, for the good things, the look of the film is nice and red. From previous entries the series has mostly used dark colors for the backdrop of the films. Edward Furlong does a surprisingly good job here and David Borneos does good too. The music sounds appropriate for the theme of the film and the storyline involving the main character is a neat concept.
The storyline is as follows, Jimmy Cuervo is murdered alongside his girlfriend as part of a strange satanic ritual. Jimmy rises from the dead to avenge the death of him and his girlfriend. The film takes place in Mexico and the two lovers weren't meant to be as the girlfriend's father doesn't want her to hang out with a murderer. This is the first time the murder victim isn't innocent as he is a convicted killer. This concept can work great.
In a perfect world it can work great, but the film doesn't work. Instead of focusing on the protagonist, the viewers experience with the film is constrained to the villains. The film focuses on the demon worshipers and the rituals and almost never focuses on Jimmy Cuervo.
It's disappointing because the demon worship plot line isn't interesting. it s made even worse by the fact that the audience is supposed to get to know the bad guys more than the hero. This doesn't work either because the bad guys are not interesting or evil enough to really spend time focusing on.
The other crow films featured outstanding villains and more of a sense of reason for killing them. We can't just get to know bad guys knowing that they will be killed. The film should have been more about the hero and his struggles.
To be fair, the head villain is suitably idiotic enough for comic relief. Tara Reid plays his sidekick, but she doesn't have much to do here except to change her mind on the killings. The other villains have back-stories, sure, but they don't have any spirit in their parts.
Speaking of which, the normally good Dennis Hopper is terrible in this film as an annoying Ebonics worshiping boss man. His lines aren't funny, his character is weird, and his reason for being in the film adds nothing. Macy Grey plays a brief but cute role. The murder scenes have no context or a sense of meaning or surprise. They range from a baseball bat to the head, to a heart ripping, to an actual suicide!!! What the hell?! This film was all the more disappointing due to the director Lance Mungia directed one of my favorite films(SIX STRING SAMURAI) and to know that he has talent makes the film seem all the more better, yet worse. Because of this fact, I cannot hate this film. Its not the worst film in the world, and i could watch it again without hesitation. But this film is disappointing for a fan of the crow films.
Rated R for violence and language throughout, some sexual and drug content.