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Menace II Society

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Menace II Society
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThe Hughes Brothers
Screenplay byTyger Williams
Story byAllen Hughes
Albert Hughes
Tyger Williams
Produced byDarin Scott
Starring
CinematographyLisa Rinzler
Edited byChristopher Koefoed
Music byQDIII
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • May 8, 1993 (1993-05-08)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million
Box office$27.9 million[1]

Menace II Society (pronounced Menace to Society) is a 1993 American hood drama thriller film directed by Allen and Albert Hughes[2] in their directorial debut, and starring Tyrin Turner, Jada Pinkett, Larenz Tate and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is set in then 1990's South Central Los Angeles, California. The film follows the life of a young man named Kaydee "Caine" Lawson and his close friends. It gained notoriety for its scenes of violence, profanity, and drug-related content. It was released in May 1993 to critical acclaim for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.

Plot

Kaydee "Caine" Lawson is a child raised in Watts, Los Angeles. His father was a dope dealer who was killed in a drug deal when Caine was ten and his mother was a heroin addict who died of an overdose. As a result, he went to go live with his grandparents. Caine grows up to become a drug dealer and a member of the Grape Street Watts Crips, along with his friends.

In the beginning of the film, Caine and his best friend Kevin "O-Dog" Anderson enter a local store to buy malt liquor, as the Korean storekeeper and his wife watch them suspiciously. As they are about to leave, an argument ensues and the shopkeeper insults O-Dog by saying, "I feel sorry for your mother". Enraged, O-Dog shoots him and his wife. Then, he takes money from the cash register, only to find that there are only six dollars in there. He then takes more money from one of the dead shopkeeper's socks and the video surveillance tape. As a result, they both flee from the scene to avoid getting caught.

Afterwards, Caine graduates from high school and in the evening, both Caine and friends celebrate at a house party. Later on, Caine and his cousin Harold are both carjacked at gunpoint by thugs. Harold is shot and eventually dies, while Caine is wounded. When O-Dog informs Caine that he has learned the identity of the carjackers, he, Caine, and their friend A-Wax, all find the assailants and kill them as revenge.

Caine and O-Dog are hired by Chauncey, a local hood, for a car insurance scheme. However, they are both caught in the process and arrested by police. A detective attempts to link Caine to the store killings by matching his fingerprints to the ones found on the bottle at the crime scene. However, without the security tape, there is not enough evidence to charge Caine. Once released, Caine buys a Ford Mustang 5.0 from a chop shop and robs a local youth for his Dayton wheels. Caine then purchases a large quantity of cocaine to cook into crack and sell. Caine begins to enjoy his new hustler lifestyle with his crew, and meets a local girl named Ilena at the park. After facing police brutality and recovering in a hospital, Caine is visited by his friend, Ronnie, who tells him that she has found a job in Atlanta and invites him to come with her. Caine shows hesitance but is eventually persuaded and the two end up making love. When Caine rejoins his friends, he notices that Chauncey is making various drunken advances towards Ronnie. Furious, Caine takes one of O-Dog's guns and pistol whips Chauncey with it. As revenge, Chauncey sends a copy of the robbery video tape (which O-Dog held on to) to the police. Later, Caine gets a phone call from Ilena, who tells him that she is pregnant with his child, but Caine does not believe it is his.

Before leaving for Atlanta, Caine is confronted by Ilena's cousin, who chastises Caine for getting his cousin pregnant and failing to own up to his actions. With a few exchanges of words, an altercation ensues. Caine beats up Ilena's cousin in front of his grandparents' house and continues to stomp him while he is down. After the fight, Caine's grandparents reprimand him and throw him out of their house.

Heartbroken, Caine leaves and goes to Ronnie's house, so they can go off in search of a better life in Atlanta. Just as Caine and Ronnie finish packing their things, Ilena's cousin (who seeks revenge on Caine for humiliating him) and a gang of gunmen execute a drive-by shooting on the house. Caine's friend Sharif is killed, O-Dog is arrested, and Caine is mortally wounded. As Caine bleeds to death, he sees previous flashbacks of what led to this moment. He realizes that his crime-ridden life has finally caught up with him, and remembers when his grandfather asked him if he cared whether he lived or died. Caine's last thought is, "Yeah, I do. Now it's too late."

Cast

Production

Originally, MC Ren was set to play A-Wax, but later turned down the role when he joined the Nation of Islam in late 1992. Rapper Spice 1 was set to play Caine, and Tupac Shakur to play Sharif, but they were later fired with director Allen Hughes stating that Shakur was causing trouble on the set. Shakur was angry for not being told why Sharif would turn Muslim. Six months after the firing, Shakur assaulted the director, resulting in Shakur being found guilty of assault and battery.[3] Shakur did not want to play the role of Sharif, as he did not agree (in regards to the authenticity of such a role) that a Muslim could also be a gangbanger. He is quoted as saying the following in a video interview,[4]

"I said okay, cool... fire me from this $100,000 movie, because I ain't goin' play no gangbanger who's a Muslim. There ain't no such thing, I refuse to play parts that don't exist. I will be a young nigga, but will be a real young nigga."

— Tupac Shakur

Shakur wanted to play O-Dog. Shakur and Spice 1 were later replaced with Larenz Tate and Tyrin Turner, respectively.[5]

Reception

Menace II Society received generally positive reviews from critics.[6] The film scored an 85% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews. Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum stated, "This is a powerful, convincing, and terrifying look at teenage crime in contemporary Watts."[7] Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly gave it a positive review, stating, "Menace II Society is bleak, brilliant, and unsparing."[8] EmanuelLevy.com gave the film an A, saying it is "The most stunning feature debut in the new African American cinema, even more so than Boyz n the Hood to which the coming of age feature bears thematic resemblance."[9] The film was placed on both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's 10 best films of 1992 lists, with Ebert praising "the way the filmmakers tell Caine's story without making him seem either the hero or victim".[10][11]

The film received some negative reviews. Geoff Andrew of Time Out stated, "Regrettably, the Hughes Brothers' first feature is a compendium of cliches."[12] Stephen Holden of The New York Times stated, "If Menace II Society is terrific on ambiance, it is considerably less successful in revealing character."[13] At the 1994 MTV Movie Awards, the film was awarded Best Movie, beating out the likes of Philadelphia, Jurassic Park and Schindler's List.[14] The film also won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Menace II Society (1993)". Box Office Mojo. 1993-07-27. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  2. ^ "Menace II Society". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  3. ^ Jet – Google Books. 1994-02-28. Retrieved 2011-08-10 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "2pac Turning Down Menace 2 Society". YouTube. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  5. ^ Randall Sullivan, Labyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G... page 80
  6. ^ "Violent 'Menace' drawing accolades from unlikely fans". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  7. ^ "Blog Archive » Menace II Society". JonathanRosenbaum.net. 1993-06-04. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  8. ^ Owen Gleiberman (1993-05-28). "Menace II Society Review | Movie Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  9. ^ "Welcome to Emanuel Levy » Menace II Society". Emanuellevy.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  10. ^ "'SCHINDLER'S LIST' TOPS SISKEL'S & EBERT'S EAGERLY AWAITED '10 BEST FILMS OF 1992' – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 1993-12-27. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  11. ^ "Menace II Society :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. 1993-05-26. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  12. ^ "Menace II Society Review. Movie Reviews – Film – Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  13. ^ Holden, Stephen (1992-05-08). "Movie Review - Menace II Society - Review/Film; Teen-Agers Living Under the Gun - NYTimes.com". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  14. ^ "1994 MTV Movie Awards | Past Movie Awards | Awards Show Highlights and Winners". MTV.com. 1994-06-04. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  15. ^ http://www.spiritawards.com/files/SPIRIT%20AWARDS_26%20Years%20of%20Nominees%20and%20Winners.pdf
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