Too much of everything

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Whoever said this movie is 7 stars and the best black gangster movie ever.... smh no. The acting is horrible. And I know that it came out in the 90s but that is no excuse. The worst part of it all is the re-used soundbytes. Such as when the shootout occurs at the market, you can hear the actors saying many different expletives but they are the same recording used over and over. Its horrible. Basically what happened is that the directors were lazy and had the actors record a phrase in the studio, and then they used it in many different places throughout the movie. While the phrase "m----r f----r" is said 39 times in the movie, it is actually only recorded 18 times. That means that 21 times that the phrase is said the directors told the engineers to just use the phrase from another part of the movie. HORRIBLE!The story has no meaning. None of the characters learn anything, no moral is expressed. its not like in Boyz n the Hood when the characters are constantly facing decisions that inevitably lead to a lesson to be learned in ethics. In Menace II Society the lesson is "if you kill a bunch of people and then move away, then you will be fine in life. But if you don't hurry up and leave in time then you will be killed." Or maybe "if you get a girl pregnant then you can just leave that girl and move away to a new city and everything will be fine, but if you don't then you will die." This is ridiculous.This is the first movie directed by the Hughes Brothers, and it was over-hyped because of a bunch of other similar (and better) movies that came out around the same time. Notice these guys only made about 10 movies in life, and barely any of them are better than 5 stars. Sorry, it is what it is.

The film starts off with the murders at a convenience story, and introduces the voice-over narration of the story. I find that this voice-over does wonders at making the audience sympathize with Caine's character. He was born into this society, and therefore is not to blame for his actions and choices. Though his character is not as unpredictably violent like O-Dog, and is somewhat mild. He doesn't carry a gun, and his demeanour isn't that menacing. The voice-over helps to gain some insight into his thoughts and is thus more humanized.Tyrin Turner does a great job portraying his character. As a young boy on the edge of adulthood and just out of high school, Caine has no direction in life, and even has trouble answering whether he cares if he lives or dies. The many close-ups show his confusion at times and at others, his indifference to violence, implying his slow immersion into becoming like O-Dog. O-Dog is represented as a bit of a psychopath with no remorse or conscience for life. It takes little to set him off and Tate does a fantastic job of portraying this terrifying character.This film is well made and the directing shows it. The Hughes Brothers perfectly place juxtapositions of scenes together for maximum impact. The flashback comes in the beginning and establishes Caine's back story while creating sympathy for him. The composition of shots too are done nicely, and complements the way the characters tend to travel in groups.There is a lot of violence in this though, and it serves to show a realistic representation but can be very brutal. As mentioned before, it takes very little to upset O-Dog and turn him loose. The swearing is also very apparent and not one sentence goes by without them. Sometimes whole conversations go by with just cursing.Overall a very powerful representation of ghetto society, where importance is on staying together and protecting one's own. Masculinity is also obviously a very big issue as they constantly try to assert themselves through aggression and cursing. Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com

This is a gritty drama depicting violence living in the LA ghetto where we see street hustler Caine attempting to escape the life in the ghetto in order to lead a better self. This movie details untold gun violence, severe beatings, homicide and bloody images as gang members and street thugs are pitted against each other - all surrounding Caine's struggling attempt to escape it all. This depicts the unfortunate reality that these gang members never resist the street life and change for the better, forever becoming victims in the cycle of violence and, sadly, negatively influencing young children to be part of this life style. The acting and course of events are fierce and the movie's momentum keeps everything tense. Some viewers would find this movie riveting but probably would also find it upsetting at the same time as these actors are depicting the reality of a day in the life in the ghetto, which I find extremely appalling. In addition, most of the actors portrayed morally deprived thugs with not even an ounce of humanity in them. If the director had the foresight to insert at least a little moral value or redeeming qualities in the characters, the movie would have been more tolerable and you would probably learn something positive from the film, rather than watching a film that glorifies violence.Grade D-

When Boyz'N The Hood seemed sincere in its approach but a bit sugar-coated, Menace II Society appears to be more realistic regarding the violence that prevails in those neighborhoods.The script cleverly avoids any manichaeism, and shows well, with a certain fatality, how difficult it is for these adolescents to escape the violence and chose another path that the one that seems to be written for them from their birth.Carried by convincing actors and well directed, Menace II Society turns out to be really striking and will remain for a lot of people THE best ghetto movie.