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Boyz N the Hood is the quintessential hood film. But Menace II Society is the more violent version of it. Menace II Society deals with less fortunate characters that in Boyz N the Hood. Luckily, they are just as fleshed out.
The movie opens up with protagonist and narrator Caine (Tyrin Turner) loitering with his best friend O-Dog (Larenz Tate) and about to buy booze in a convenience store. One thing leads to another and O-Dog brutally kills the owners. The scene is played out perfectly as we feels the shots fired. O-Dog is the most sadistic and violent guy in the hood. Like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas or 2Pac in Juice, there is no beating the psycho known as O-Dog. He is proud of the kill and he flaunts the surveillance tape to their friends. Tate does an awesome job.
Caine's mother was a junkie and his father was a drug dealer. He witnessed his mother OD and his father get brutally killed when he was a child. He then goes onto live with his religious and overly- calm grandparents. He witnesses so many violent activities in the streets and partakes in half of them. Throughout the film, we see Caine progress into a more ambitious and less crazy character. He doesn't think too much of cheating on his girlfriend (Jada Picket-Smith) or sticking with his friends if a rival gets in their face. But he feels shock when O-Dog kills the clerk and the he is questioned about a carjacking. It is not easy for him to escape what has consumed himself his whole life.
This is an extremely brutal but powerful film. Not everybody has a well-meaning father like Fishburne in Boyz N the Hood. The brutality featured in this helps propel the power that this has. The characters are real and this does an amazing job of showing one's consequences. Caine eventually grows to try to live a better life outside the hood. We sit there wondering if he can.
I recommend watching this and Boyz N the Hood. Doesn't matter the order or even if its in the same day. Both show perfectly the effects of living in a ghetto and different home lives.
4/4
score 10/10
powermandan 1 January 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3610628/ |
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1-12-2019 09:51:30
