Cheap Menace II Society (DVD) (Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes) Price

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Customer Reviews of Menace II Society

Very Powerful
Roger Ebert called this film one of the most powerful movies he'd ever seen. And yeah, I guess it is. This movie, directed by The Hughes Brothers <
>(From Hell, Dead Presidents) portrays life in the hood as no other movie has done before. It's powerful, unapologetic, and presents us with characters that we should have no sympathy for whatsoever. Oddly enough though, we do. <
>The movie begins with Caine (Tyrin Turner) and O-Dog (Larenz Tate) walking into a liquor store to buy some beer. The store is owned by Korean's who follow them around mysteriously. Caine and O-Dog go about their business until they're about to walk out and O-Dog shoots and kills both of the Korean's and takes the tape of them doing it. The scene shows us the violence unflinchingly. We then see Caine's back story. His father (Samuel L. Jackson) died in a drug deal and his mother died of a heroin overdose. He lived with his religious grandparents since then and was, for the most part, raised by Pernell (Glenn Plummer) who's now serving life in prison. Caine, meanwhile, helps take care of Pernell's girlfriend Ronnie (Jada Pinkett) and <
>his young son Anthony, who reminds Caine of himself at a young age. The rest of the movie is events that happen in the lives of Caine and his homies <
>O-Dog, Doc, Wax, Sharif, Stacy, Lew-Loc, and Chauncy. Drug deals, drive-by's, rim stealing, car jacking, cold blooded murder, you name it. None of it's off limits. Through all of this, however, you like the characters. O-Dog, no matter how violent and sadistic he gets is still a great and sympathetic character. Tate's performance is so good, I'm surprised he didn't get a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Tyrin Turner, who I've never seen in another movie, is amazing as Caine; Playing both the violent street thug and sensitive guy perfectly. A pre-Will Smith, Jada Pinkett is also great as Ronnie <
>and should have gotten an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. <
>This is an important movie that needs to be seen by a lot of people, since it confronts a lot of social issues in a simalar way movies like American History X, Boyz in the Hood, and even Scarface have done before. The Hughes Brothers have crafted a masterwork, a powerfully entertaining movie. <
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>GRADE: A+ <
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Simply a great movie
I've probably seen this movie 20 times since it came out and I still watch it when it comes on television. I must say that some of the acting seems a bit corny now, but the images, characters and the story are still as gripping as ever. MIIS is basically a remake of the gangster classic Public Enemy from 1931. At that time Warner Brothers studios had directors that were interested in telling real stories. Another example also from 1931, I think, was I'm a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Basically these films were about how life was in the early thirties for some people, like gangsters or poor people. <
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>Anyway MIIS does this too. People compare it to Boyz 'n' da Hood and Do the Right Thing. Why do the Right Thing? That movie has a completely different theme than this one. It deals directly with racism, MIIS deals indirectly with racism, but is about living a life of crime in the ghetto. Boy 'n' the hood is similar, but is a morality play and also coming of age drama. Just, because black people act and direct a movie doesn't mean it's exactly the same subject. MIIS is more a tragedy, as soon as you hear the voice over of Caine and he begins to tell his story you know that this is not going to end well. <
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>Furthermore the major part of the acting is great. Also a good thing is the dialogue in the script, it's all slang. When I first saw this movie I couldn't understand a word they were saying for the first ten minutes. This makes it more realistic, but also gives an almost Shakespeare like feel, because you have to listen with more effort to get the dialogue. <
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>Lastly for those people who say this film is racist and stereotypical. Please look a little bit further. Stereotypes are put forward yes, but not to characterize all young black men in the hood, they are stereotypes of individuals that exist, the nut, the player, the religious fanatic, the hustler etc. And even though they are stereotyped the actors do a really good job in deepening ther characters. I can't find any racism in this film with the best of my ability, I think the directors just wanted to make a film that would be very impressive and they succeeded in that. Maybe you would like to see a more Mr. Rogers type of movie which Caines grandparents watch as O-Dog visits. A movie about a world where everything is hunky dory. <
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>On a last note the point the movie makes is that it is not only your actions, but also your environment that inevitably lead to your fate. Even if you take the right actions the odds are highly stacked against you in places where there is little opportunity to get out of the mess you're in.