Popular reviews

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  Review by Criterion 8

  Directors Albert and Allen Hughes and screenwriter Tyger Williams were barely into their twenties when they sent shock waves through American cinema and hip-hop culture with this fatalistic, unflinching vision of life and death on the streets of Watts, Los Angeles, in the 1990s. There, in the shadow of the riots of 1965 and 1992, young Caine (Tyrin Turner) is growing up under the influence of his ruthless, drug-dealing father (Samuel L. Jackson, in a chilling cameo) and his loose-cannon best friend, O-Dog (Larenz Tate), leading him into a spiral of violent crime from which he is not sure he wants to escape, despite the best efforts of his grandparents and the steadfast Ronnie (Jada Pinkett). Fusing grim realism with…

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  Review by Issac ★★★★ 3

  What a hard and violent film.
  That grocery store scene was just the beginning and that scene alone was already nerve wrecking and intense, I had no idea how the rest of the movie would play out after that.

  Compared to other films (Boyz N The Hood, Juice), I've noticed that there's two types of people in these films when it comes to growing up in the hood: there's those who make it out and those who don't. Sadly, this film is an in depth look of the tragedies for those people who don't.

  Through the narration of the main character, Caine, we get to hear the thoughts that undergo his mind as his story goes on. You see the…

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  Review by dumbsville ★★★★½ 2

  The first scene should be taught in classes on how you open a movie.

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  Review by Justin Peterson ★★★★½ 5

  Recommended by: Marvin123

  Criterion Collection Spine #1105

  Brought up in a cycle of crime and violence on the streets of South LA, a High School graduate must decide if he can bring himself to leave all he knows behind ... before his time runs out.

  "Being a black man in America isn't easy. The hunt is on, and you're the prey. All I'm saying is ... Survive! All right?"

  Having seen 'Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood' a couple times growing up, it was crazy to finally see how that hilarious parody chose to poke fun at this powerful urban drama. Menace II Society gives us an inside look into the lives…

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  Review by Sally Jane Black 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  The final moments of the film proclaim that in the end, it all catches up to you. Either this suggests that O-Dog, the chaotic, violent friend of the Biblically-dubbed Caine, is fated to meet a grisly end, or it rings with irony as he remains among the living while the credits roll.

  Caine himself is depicted as having grown up in circumstances that provided little opportunity for a straight life (the most prominent flashback features his father in an almost cartoonish moment of violence, but that cartoonishness makes sense since the scene is played out through the eyes of a child), but there are clear moments where an escape is offered. Still, as he says, no matter what, he will…

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  Review by Cappie ★★★½ 2

  Menace II Society will probably be the film I point to when I hear somebody complain about narration in cinema. It can be a horrendous tool, but when used properly it can ground a film and fill it with tremendous power. A film about a murdering, drug-dealing gang-banger shouldn't get you in the heart, but thanks the Hughes Brothers perfectly scripted narration it does hit you and it hits you pretty damn hard. The rest of the film is fairly by the books but because you feel for Caine, the film just becomes that bit more of an emotional experience. Good stuff.

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  Review by emmanuel ★★★★

  Wait what happened to the first Menace Society

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  Review by Evan T ★★★★½ 12

  Those referring to this as ‘the black Goodfellas’ are overstating nothing. Alongside Hype Williams’ Belly, Menace II Society is one of the few 90s hood movies to give Boyz n the Hood a true run for its money. Under the direction of The Hughes Brothers, the camera pans, whips, and tracks with all the coked-out energy of Scorsese himself, the difference here being the shift in environment. I’ve read that some people amount the commercial failure of this classic to its 93’ release, and the fact it’s one of the first racially provocative works to emerge out of the post-Rodney King/LA riots era, but that’s as if to say it speaks from an incendiary angle, which it doesn’t. This is…

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★ 8

  For a long while now I'd been intrigued about this one since it's been praised as one of the most influential social and racial themes dramas of the 80s and 90s, mostly due to the racial tensions that peaked in the worst way possible back then.

  While I still prefer Singleton's discourse on the subject, this one was a welcoming surprise. There is this incredible camera work in the film that reminds me of Spike Lee or Martin Scorsese. While the cinematography is admirable, the way everything is shot at times makes it seem a bit cheap in that it feels closer to a low-budget indie movie than a Hollywood piece, however the style instilled by the brothers elevates the…

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  Review by Justin LaLiberty ★★★★ 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  “My grandpa asked me one time if I care whether I live or die. Yeah I do. Now it's too late.”

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  Review by TheCultureShocker ★★★★★ 1

  I hadn't seen this underrated gem since high school and I gotta say, this held up even better than I remember.

  This is probably the best hood movie of all time. Extremely violent, honest and visceral. I'd recommend this movie to everyone because apparently not very many people have seen it.

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  Review by dumbsville ★★★★½

  Welcome to San Andreas, I’m CJ from Grove Street.