Menace II Society

The feel-good movie of the summer? Well, no. First-time directors (and twin siblings) Allen and Albert Hughes tread John Singleton's (Boyz N the Hood) territory in this grittier, grimier, and altogether more explosive foray into the smoldering, ruined heart of South Central Los Angeles. Tyrin Turner is Caine, a young black man recently graduated from high school, who, along with his downright psychopathic homey O-Dog (Tate), is caught up in the maelstrom of senseless murder, rampant drug abuse, and eternal dead ends of the 'Hood. When O-Dog goes off and kills a Korean grocer and his wife, Caine is at first sickened by his friend's capacity for casual violence, but before half the film is over, he's already committed his own first murder (in retaliation for his cousin's drive-by death). Hopelessness hangs over this film like the smokey pall from a riot. Caine's only ticket out of this hell may rest with Ronnie (Pinkett), the girlfriend of his hustler/mentor who's now facing life in jail. She's been taking college courses in the hopes of a better life for her six-year-old son, Anthony, and asks Caine to move with her away from the 'Hood, to Atlanta. She's smart, gorgeous, and loving, but Caine has trouble making up his mind about the move (Caine has trouble making up his mind about everything, really. When his hyper-Christian grandfather asks him if he cares whether he lives or dies, Caine has to stop and think for a moment before replying, “I don't know.”). By this point the police are closing in on O-Dog and accessory-to-murder Caine for the grocer's murder, and other people in the Hood are out to settle scores. Grim, grimmer, grimmest. Though the Hughes brothers' film may at first sound like a Boyz N the Hood knock-off, the film stands on its own two feet by grace of its sheer relentlessness. Menace II Society is, by turns, less polished, bloodier, and has an almost documentary feel to many of its scenes that will knock the wind out you while simultaneously underscoring the depressing point that we live in a country that willfully allows -- even encourages -- these situations to arise. It's only a movie, yes, but the things depicted here, the murders, the drugs, the unending wave of young, black corpses shot down for little or nothing, happen 24/7. As uncomfortable as it is to have your nose shoved in this nightmare, its unforgettable in its violent lyricism and the bloody power of its message.