Marlon playing it low key as always...
Don’t be a Menace 2 South Central while drinking your Juice in the Hood shows that ridiculous joke a minute – not necessarily funny jokes mind you – spoof flicks have been around for a while, there just weren’t as many as there are now.
It also proves beyond doubt that at least one Wayans brother must appear in every one.
By my count this has 3 brothers and I’m pretty sure at least one sister. Shawn is likable and handsome, Marlon (in little more than a cameo) ditto, and Marlon Wayans can out-ham the best – or should I say worst of them. Damn the boy tries, but he can’t see a camera without mugging inanely and grinning like he just stepped off the short bus.
Don’t be a Menace… has no plot of it’s own, it just randomly lifts snippets of other ‘urban’ (read black) films of the 90s and makes jokes about them. So many jokes…
So many bad jokes.
The first bad joke happens about 4 seconds after the credits stop. The second 10 seconds later. The third within that same first minute. The film has no conscience, no PC gauge and seemingly no self control. Chock full to the brim with sight gags, sex gags, film references and punny names.
It’s like every Wayans has their own personal quota of lame jokes for the film, and tries to squeeze them into any scene in which they appear in case another Wayans is born during filming and steals their shine. At least they make a self referential joke about the number of Wayans in the film – the only time I laughed out loud by the way.
Back to the bad jokes; old women swear, talk dirty and dance like are stepping up 2 something. White people rap badly, dance badly and integrate into society badly, such is our lot in life in these types of lazy films. And to save time I might just say stereotypes abound.
The second best joke involved someone being arrested for being black on a Friday night, and the film referenced Poetic Justice, Menace 2 Society, Higher Learning, Boyz N the Hood and Dead Presidents, along with probably other films I never saw or can’t remember.
The worst jokes were the other 97% of jokes.
Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. This might be funny if you’re in your teens… and I might as well stop there, because you ticket buying, don’t know any better teens are the ones who buy these tickets and keep these lazy crapfests coming. The Wayans family thanks you, all 6 million of them.
