Menace II Society

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Menace II Society
Directed by Allen Hughes &
Albert Hughes
Written by Allen Hughes (story)
Albert Hughes (story)
Tyger Williams (story & screenplay)
Starring Tyrin Turner
Larenz Tate
Jada Pinkett Smith
Music by Menace II Society original soundtrack
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) May 28 , 1993 (limited)
May 28, 1993 (nationwide)
Running time 104 minutes
Country USA
Language English
Budget $3.5 million
IMDb profile

Menace II Society is a 1993 hit movie and the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United States on May 28, 1993. The film gained notoriety for its frequent scenes of violence and crude language. Despite mixed reviews, however, Menace II Society was critically acclaimed for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.

The film takes place in Watts, a high crime district of Los Angeles, California, and follows the life of 18-year-old Caine "Kaydee" Lawson during a long summer after his high school graduation. Although he is a drug-dealer, Caine has a number of redeeming qualities; he lives with his loving grandparents, and with his recently completed high school education, has a number of doors open to him. He financially and emotionally supports a close female friend who is a single mother. Most of Caine's friends—in particular, the homicidally trigger-happy Kevin ("O-Dog")—all seem to be heading towards either jail or an early grave, and are threatening to take Caine with them.

Contents

[edit] Plot of the movie

The movie begins as a flustered Caine and his friend, O-Dog, flee the scene after a liquor store robbery. They are in the store to buy malt liquor before going to a party. The Korean shopkeeper and his wife are watching them with apparent unease. O-Dog is verbally abusive of the Korean couple and they demand he and Caine to hurry up an buy, and leave. The shopkeeper's parting comment about feeling sorry for O-Dog's mother angers O-Dog to shoot the man to the head, killing him. He also kills his wife as a witness, and for her loud screaming. O-Dog takes money from the cash register and from the shopkeeper, and then steals the surveillance videotape. (He later watches it repeatedly, seemingly proud of his actions. He also doesn't hesitate to show it to his friends, ignoring Caine's warnings that it will get them both into trouble.)

In a flashback, the audience learns that several years before the start of film (in the late 1970s), the drug epidemic has hit the Watts district hard, and Caine's father, Tat Lawson (Samuel L. Jackson), has made this his main source of income by selling heroin. His mother (Khandi Alexander), a heroin addict, is strung out most of the time, so a young Caine has no one to take care of him and is left to fend for himself in an unforgiving world of drugs, guns, and violence. Caine is given a handle on this form of societal decay by the ubiquitous Pernell, who becomes in a way Caine's "street" father, a replacement for his "real" father, who was killed during a drug deal when he was 10. It also is stated that his mother died of a drug overdose a few years afterwards.

Eight years later, with Pernell in jail (for life without parole) and his parents deceased, Caine lives with his grandparents in Jordan Downs. He has just graduated from high school and is the proud recipient of a diploma. To celebrate, he and his cousin Harold head off to a party. The celebration quickly turns ugly as Harold (Saafir) and Caine are caught off guard ("caught slippin'") afte a graduation party and are both shot during a carjacking for Harold's car, a BMW. Fortunately, Caine is only shot in his shoulder, which causes him to go into shock. Harold isn't so lucky; a bullet enters his brain, killing him. After receiving treatment for the shoulder injury, Caine is granted permission to go home. He is picked up by Ronnie, the ex-girlfriend and mother of Pernell's five-year-old son, Anthony, a boy who often reminds Caine of how he used to be when he was much younger. Caine develops a bond with the young child, forming a father-son relationship with him, much like the one he had with Pernell years before. This relationship - Caine, Ronnie, and Anthony - shows us a different side to our rather unconventional hero.

Enraged and feeling bitter towards the killers of his cousin Harold due to the car-jacking, Caine's grandfather tries to talk sense into him and O-Dog about the trouble and the consequences of killing. Although they seemed to listen, the two ingore the advice the grandfather gives them and the two head off. Along the way, O-Dog gives Caine information on the two killers of his cousin and their whereabouts. Later on, Caine and O-Dog head on over to A-Wax's where O-Dog shows off the surveillance videotape of the murder he committed at the convenience store. A friend then walks up to O-Dog, cocks a shotgun and hands it to him to use.

The three (Caine, O-Dog and A-Wax) then head out to find the killers of Caine's cousin. Caine is having second thoughts about taking another youth's life, then refuses to avenge his cousin's death and is faced with an angered O-Dog. O-Dog states to Caine he ain't "letting that ride", and he insults and calls Caine out into carrying on the task. They then come across the vehicle of the killers at a food court in a nearby parking lot where the killers are trying to talk a young woman into giving them free food. Caine and O-Dog then mask up and head towards the food court. A-Wax sits in the vehicle and waits for them to return. Caine (loaded with a pistol) and O-Dog (loaded with a shotgun) walk up to the killers and the two begin shooting. O-Dog blows off the head of one of the killers, instantly killing the first killer. As the second killer runs, Caine unloads heavy fire onto him, severely wounding him. He is still able to run and he limps into the parking lot, but unfortunately runs into A-Wax where (A-Wax quotes, "Hey, homie, you need some help?") he then drives his pistol into the killers gut and fires several shots, killing the second killer. The three then jump into A-Wax's car and they storm out.

As the movie moves on, we find Caine hanging out with Ronnie's little son, Anthony. They both are enjoying a boxing video game when Caine pulls out his gun in front of Anthony and sits it on top of a dresser next to him. Anthony asks to see the gun, so Caine then begins to show him how to hold it as if he really was to own one. Ronnie walks in on Caine and Anthony holding the gun and explodes in anger towards Caine for his lack of responsibility with Anthony. She also yells at Caine for giving her money and says she'll can it herself. Caine states he's only paying back Pernell for watching out for him over the years. Ronnie says the sad part is that she's starting to see all of Pernell's old behavior beginning to grow up inside of Caine. Caine then leaves.

Later on, we once again find Caine, O-Dog, and A-Wax driving into an indoor parking lot. As they're rolling around, they're looking for a black Nissan Maxima to steal, as a white man that Chauncy knows has offered them money for stealing this type of car and returning it to him. As Caine and O-Dog find a car to break into, a toll booth security guard calls the cops. Once the two finally break in and almost drive out of the tunnel, the cops pull right in. They ditch the car to run and hide, but are unfortunately found and attacked by a police dog. Caine is arrested, but since it is his first offense "actually, the first timeI'd ever been caught for anything", his crime was reduced from grand theft auto to attempted joyride. O-Dog was let off the hook with a warning since he was a minor. We now move to a scene where Caine is in a room with a detective. The detective states he's going to asks simple questions and wants simple-truthful answers. They go back and forth about the incident from the start of the movie at the liquor store. Caine tries his best to make up good lies, but can't stay consistent. But even so, the police did not have the videotape so there were no leads. He is later released.

Later on in the movie, Stacy and Sharif pick up Caine to go buy an illegal car. Caine seems to begin leaning more into the crime life as he now commits a real grand theft auto, robbing a youth at gunpoint for his rims on his car for his own (that he has just gotten illegally), his beeper, his jewelry, his money, and most of his new clothing. He even made the youth pay for a burger, since they were at a fast food joint. Basically, he "caught the guy slipping". As things seemed to begoing good for Caine with money in his pocket, a new beeper, new jewelry, and new rims on his car, he feels like he's on top of the world. It even gets better when finds a cute girl by the name of Ilena as he is pulling into the parking lot at a barbecue. As she reverses out of her parking spot, he traps her in with his vehicle and begins flirting with her. He asks for her phone number and the two hook up.

Later on, Caine becomes implicated in two additional murders (in retaliation for his cousin's slaying), grand theft auto, and the acquisition of the stolen goods: a registered car, rims, and jewelry that he robs from the youth. He's also learned that cops can be as "hard" as he can, but what sets them apart from him is that they have badges and guns, where he only has a gun. Caine winds up in the hospital after experiencing police brutality while cruising with Sharif. After being brutally beaten, the two are then thrown into a police car. The police head over to the Hispanic gang area where they drop off Sharif and Caine, who are injured. Caine assumes that they were headed for a beating because of their personal gang issues, and instead gets a ride from the Eses to the hospital.

Ronnie visits him during his recovery process, but with more on her mind than just a simple meet-up. She is worried about Caine, and would be less concerned if he were to come with her and Anthony to Atlanta, where she plans to work. She leaves him alone to think about her offer, and Caine reminisces on all that has happened to him, all that he's done, and all the things he'd ultimately end up doing if he stayed. At one of their parties in Ronnie's house, she makes her true feelings for Caine present, and even though Caine was hesitant at first due to him knowing that Ronnie was Pernell's old girlfriend, Ronnie convinces him that he shouldn't worry. Caine then agrees to her offer and then the two have sex in her room. Afterwards, Chauncy is seen aggressively pushing up on Ronnie, despite her pleas to get him to stop. This enrages Caine, and he takes O-Dog's gun and pistol-whips Chauncy. Later on, Caine answers the phone to Ilena. She's tells him that she is pregnant and that he is the father. He denies and hangs up.

With Pernell's encouragement for a visit to the prison, Caine decides to go with Anthony and Ronnie where Pernell gives Caine his blessing to watch out for Ronnie and Anthony and to raise him up right. Later on, Caine arrives at his grandparents, where he was greeted by O-Dog at gunpoint only for O-Dog to admit to joking and kidding around with him. An upset, bitter, not-in-the-mood Caine is then faced-off with the cousin of Ilena due to Caine's refusal to acknowledge his responsibility towards Ilena. An argument heats off between the two and Caine punches the guy, knocking him to the ground where he then violently stomps the cousin as O-Dog encourages him on. This is when he is caught by his grandfather carrying on this violent behavior. He is then asked into the house for a discussion where his grandparents then tell him he must leave due to the negative attention he is attracting. Caine then tells them about his plans of moving to Atlanta with Ronnie and Anthony in a couple of days and asks for a little bit more stay-time. They reject his answer and tells him once again he must go.

In the final scenes of the movie we see the gang, including O-Dog, taking Caine's belongings out of Ronnie's rooms and into a van outside Ronnie's house. It's a beautiful day outside; the ice cream truck is making its rounds, and Anthony's trying out the new Big Wheel Caine just bought him. However, Ilena's cousin, angry from the beating by Caine, drives past the house. As Caine and Ronnie make their final preparations to leave (Ronnie's in the house), Ilena's cousin and his buddies perform a drive-by shooting. Caine and Sharif are shot. Sharif dies a minute after the drive-by. As Caine runs towards Anthony to protect him from the bullets, he receives heavy gunfire to himself along the way. Anthony is fine as Caine covers him until the drive-by ends. However, it does not turn out good for Caine as he then lies bleeding in Stacey's arms, severely wounded, at which point he then begins he reflect on his life. The movie ends with Caine repeating the question his grandfather asked him earlier, "Do you care whether you live or die?", to which Caine answers that he does indeed care; however, it is now too late. He dies, and with that, the movie ends.

[edit] Cast

Garen Holoman- Junior

[edit] Production

Originally Tupac Shakur was set to play O-Dog but he was later dropped for assaulting director Allen Hughes after being given a part larger than he wanted.[1] "I hit one of them and he dropped, the other one ran like a bitch." [2]

[edit] Impact on culture

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While the movie was seen by fans as a gritty portrayal of urban strife, many critics of the movie felt that it actually glamorized the lifestyle.[citation needed] This was the exact opposite of what the directors had intended when making the movie. While this movie, along with popular debut albums from Eazy-E and Compton's Most Wanted, appeared to help popularize the thug lifestyle idolized by a subset of Californian youths in the early 1990s, it was really more of a commentary on the function of race in the early 1990s.

The movie was largely successful due to the brilliant and realistic dialogue. It was also one of the first movies to use the regional slang and dialect of urban blacks in Los Angeles as opposed to the New York black slang and accent that dominated most of urban media.[citation needed] The film has also become known for its frequent crude and profane language. For example, the word "fuck" and its derivatives are used 300 times in this 97-minute film[1]. This was a record up to that time and the film still holds one of the highest fuck per minute rates at 3.09 times per minute. There have been many references to the movie in pop culture. The most recent example is The Boondocks a Japanese anime-influenced cartoon series written by Aaron McGruder currently airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The show has incorporated quotes from the movie into the dialogue of the character voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, in addition to that there is a parody of the interrogation scene in the 3rd episode of the second season of The Boondocks entitled Thank You for Not Snitching. Also, on T.I.'s song King of da South from Trap Muzik he says "I've been a menace to society (since when) since Menace II Society." Another is on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, where on the Girls, Girls, Girls remix in the final track he says: "For now I get around, like the late Makaveli on Pirelli twenty inches, or Caine and O-Dog's stick-up tape from Menace." In another Jay-Z song, "Money, Cash, Hoes (Remix)" in Memphis Bleeks' verse he says "Wanna be a menace so you got Caine in you, I put them thangs in you". In the song "High All the Time", 50 Cent raps about being a role model where he says "sippin' Guinness watching Menace and Oh Lord, have a young nigga buckin shit like he O-Dog." Similarly in "New York", 50 Cent raps "it's the sequel to Menace and Oh Lord he done went O-Dog". The Game also references the film in his song "Old English", when he states "I was a menace to society, but I never left fingerprints on my Olde English. Also in The Alchemist Hold You Down (The Alchemist song) on Prodigy verse he says When it comes to teks, I'm similar to a menace, Like Ol' Dog sniffin caine couldn't fuck with the damage .In Jim Jones's video for his song "Certified Gangstas", he and rapper The Game have an exact word for word conversation with the Asian owners of a liquor store, just as O-Dog and Caine in the first scene in the movie.

The Simpsons also spoofed the film in one episode, where Lisa and Bart watch a short cartoon starring Ludacris, called Menace Tooth Society.

The 1996 Wayans Brothers spoof Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood based its main storyline mostly from the movie. Multiple characters from the movie are visibly portrayed with Marlon Wayans character named "Loc Dog" and so on.

[edit] Critical reception

Menace II Society received positive reviews from critics. The film scored an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews. It has an average rating of 7.5/10.

Jonathan Rosenbaum from the Chicago Reader stated, "This is a powerful, convincing, and terrifying look at teenage crime in contemporary Watts." Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly gave it a positive review, stating, "[Menace II Society] is bleak, brilliant, and unsparing." 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."

The film had its share of negative reviews as well. Geoff Andrew of Time Out stated, "Regrettably, the Hughes Brothers' first feature is a compendium of cliches." Stephen Holden of The New York Times stated, "If Menace II Society is terrific on ambiance, it is considerably less successful in revealing character."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Randall Sullivan, Labyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G... page 80
  2. ^ Rare Facts About Tupac, HitEmUp.com

[edit] External links

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