Menace 2 Society (Review)

Menace_II_SocietyLos Angeles in the early 90s. When braids, low slung pants and walking with a pimp limp were the norm. Where drinks only seemed to come in 40oz bottles purchased from corner sto’s, drive-bys and car jackings were commonplace, and everyone was a g, a mofo, or a ho.
More importantly when hip-hop music was still edgy and vibrant, and not the watered down commercial mess it is today…

But I digress back to these boyz in the ‘hood.

Menace 2 Society essentially tracks a period in the lives of two young men. O-Dog has embraced Thug Life, he is a loose cannon, capable of taking a life on a whim and walking away. His best friend is Caine, a small time criminal by circumstance.

With a junkie mother and a violent drug using father, Caine seems destined to live a turbulent life filled with crime and drama, though he exhibits signs that his true calling may be elsewhere.

Both O-Dog and Caine perpetrate acts of chilling violence through the events of this film, however where O-Dog has an almost blasé attitude to human life, doubt and sorrow lurk behind Caine’s eyes, even as he reluctantly pulls the trigger.

Menace 2 Society sports all the cliches, only at a time when they were not cliched. It doesn’t seek to take sides or consider the ethics of those involved, merely showing how easy it is to fall into an unsavoury lifestyle when it is you know, and how hard it can be to extricate yourself when all around you seems to pull you down.

As this cycle of premature death eddies around him Caine comes into contact with the familiar characters; the protective single mother trying to to shield her young impressionable son, the hardened lifers for whom morals and ethics are a distant memory, the peripheral wannabes who either want out or in, but aren’t willing to make the step in either direction.

Menace 2 Society is hardly an action film, though there are striking moments of sudden dramatic violence, it is a gritty drama that takes place in a difficult environment. The language and music reflects this, with every second word in both the dialogue and the soundtrack either the ‘n’ word or the ‘MF’ word. The cast is excellent, the plot is formulaic but gripping, and the tone unfortunately true to life.

As with ‘urban life’, Menace 2 Society might start off hard, but it gets easier as you become familiar with your surroundings. But just as with ‘the life’, it doesn’t always end well…

Final Rating – 8 / 10. Sits snugly alongside Boyz N the Hood, Fresh and Do the Right Thing as superior examples of African American life in the 90s.

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
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