Menace II Society

Okay, after 20 years of reading and hearing about this movie by The Hughes (Albert and Allen) Brothers, I finally watched Meanace II Society on YouTube. Mainly about teen hood Caine (Tyrin Turner) and his life with fellow South Central L.A. pal O-Dog (Larenz Tate), among other events of that time, I found the whole thing a little upsetting with what I've now found out had the most use of the f-word of any of these black movies I've been watching these last few days, not to mention the constant violence. Still, it does get better when Caine's possible girlfriend Ronnie (Jada Pinkett before becoming Mrs. Will Smith) offers a possible out by moving out with her and her son Anthony (Jullian Roy Doster) to Atlanta. But then another girl he fooled around with named Ilena (Erin Leshawn Wiley) tells him she's pregnant and...oh, watch the film if you want to know. In summary, Menace II Society didn't really pick my interest until the last 30 minutes and I started to see it in a whole new light. So on that note, I highly recommend it with reservations.

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.

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Back then the Hughes Brothers would never even name Boyz'N'the Hood. Not just because it wasn't their influence, but because people like to compare movies. Especially when it seems like they are similar. And I say seem, because while the surface may suggest that, this is a whole different beast of a movie and a story.

This is way more gritty and no one will tell you that it is a feel good story. But the influence of Scarface and other movies of that kind are apparent. Like a Goodfellas tracking shot and many other things. The brothers may have been very young, but they knew what they wanted ... and they were lucky enough to get (most of?) it! Like the cast, but also the overall finance for the movie ... which brings us back to Boyz ... over the years they themselves came to terms, that their movie probably got green-lit because of the success of Boyz ... and that's not a bad thing.

And while this is down and dirty, like Scarface it's a warning, a tale of things that can and will go wrong. What goes around, comes around ... there's a lot to read into this, but the Hughes Brothers wanted show how things were ... and the influence of the movie was felt. Especially with other movies trying to copy or at least pay homage to Menace ...

Menace was a brilliant film. There are many reasons to it, but I think what makes it so special is it's sense of style. It proves effectively that a gritty street-drama doesn't have to look bad in order to be realistic. Instead of using hand held cams and grainy film the Hughes' shoot their film with style, influenced by John Woo, and action-comics.

The violence used is also excessive and very graphic. There are brutal beatings as well as bloody shootings, all shot much better than your average action-movie. Like as in Dead Presidents, the directors aren't afraid of over-doing anything. Through slow-motion and impressive camera manoeuvering they're making great, exhilarating action.

Well, besides the violence the movie is great in many other ways. The shootings and bloodlettings are just to make it more realistic, which is pretty much the goal of the movie. In heartbreaking detail the main characters narrate us through youth criminality, drug-dealing, racism and a lot of other nasty stuff. The voice-over works really well, making Menace a sort of black "Goodfellas".

The story is great, in some points resembling some greek tragedy, with a storyline used successfully in other movies like Carlito's Way, Goodfellas, American History X and many others. It's about changing your life in time, before it's too late. If you don't change in time, all your past sins will come back to you. The movie is hilarious, sad, suspenseful and very educational for those who think there is racial equality in USA.

The Hughes' are young, aggressive and untouchable film-makers who intend to show you the real world, and do it with style.

Extremely brutal, but gripping and compelling story of a volatile, alienated young teenager (Turner) growing up in the violent atmosphere of the L.A. Watts District and—against the advice of family and friends—makes no effort to transcend the harshness and ignorance of his surroundings, instead choosing to head down a dead-end path. Violent, almost unbearable at times, but faultlessly acted by the cast, and filled with powerful, authentic scenes. Tate is an absolute powerhouse as Turner's younger, impulsive, and extremely cold-blooded pal. Obviously not for all tastes, but a monumental achievement regardless, thanks to a superior cast of actors. ***½