Don't let the silly styling of the title put you off; this is a powerful, convincing, and terrifying look at teenage crime in contemporary Watts.
Menace II Society (1993)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:8
Fresh:7
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: When Caine and O-Dog, two handsome boyz-from-the-hood, breeze into a Korean grocery, the anxious grocer and his watchful wife find their imposing presence troubling. Resentful of the sharp-eyed... When Caine and O-Dog, two handsome boyz-from-the-hood, breeze into a Korean grocery, the anxious grocer and his watchful wife find their imposing presence troubling. Resentful of the sharp-eyed survelliance and air of suspicion around them, Caine and O-Dog yell epithets at the mom-and-pop owners. Angered by the shouting match and a remark about his mother, trigger-happy O-Dog shoots the grocers. On his way out, Caine grabs the videotape from the store's security camera. Back in the 'hood, O-Dog makes a boastful ritual of showing the tape to friends who find his recklessness funnier than amateur night at the Apollo. But it's just a matter of time before the cops catch up with Caine and O-Dog, especially since Caine's fingerprints were on the 40-ounce bottle he dropped at the scene of the crime. [More]
Starring: Tyrin Turner, Jada Pinkett, Bill Duke, Charles S. Dutton
Starring: Tyrin Turner, Jada Pinkett, Bill Duke, Charles S. Dutton, Vonte Sweet, Larenz Tate, Glenn Plummer, Christopher M. Brown
Director: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
Director: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
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Reviews for Menace II Society
Bleak, brilliant, and unsparing: a full-scale vision of the madness that is tearing up the black inner city.
Fierce, violent and searing in its observation, the film makes previous excursions seem like a stroll through the park.
If Menace II Society is terrific on ambiance, it is considerably less successful in revealing character.
Nothing the Hughes brothers have done in their videos for Tone Loc, Tupac Shakur and others prepares you for the controlled intensity and maturity they bring to their stunning feature debut.
It's maddening and enlivening. It's brilliant and tacky. It's funny and horrifying. It will gratify the worst elements in the crowd; it will engage the very best.
It won't be a fun time -- at least not in the conventional sense -- but you'll sit through a ninety-seven minute odyssey that won't be quickly forgotten.
Anyone who views this film thoughtfully must ask why our society makes guns easier to obtain and use than does any other country in the civilized world. And that is only the most obvious of the many questions the film inspires.
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
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| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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