Menace II Society

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For the soundtrack album to the film, see Menace II Society (soundtrack).
Menace II Society
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThe Hughes Brothers
Screenplay byTyger Williams
Story by
  • Allen Hughes
  • Albert Hughes
  • Tyger Williams
Produced byDarin Scott
Starring
CinematographyLisa Rinzler
Edited byChristopher Koefoed
Music byQD III
Production
company
Distributed byNew Line Cinema[1]
Release date
  • May 26, 1993 (1993-05-26)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million
Box office$30 million[2]

Menace II Society (pronounced Menace to Society) is a 1993 American teen drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers[3] in their directorial debut. Set in the Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the film follows the life of Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) and his close friends. It gained notoriety for its scenes of violence, profanity, and drug-related content, and also received critical acclaim for the performances of Turner, Jada Pinkett (in her film debut), and Larenz Tate, the direction, and its realistic portrayal of urban violence and powerful underlying messages.

Plot[edit]

Kaydee "Caine" Lawson and his best friend Kevin "O-Dog" Anderson enter a liquor store to buy some malt liquor, where a Korean cashier and his wife suspiciously rush them to buy their drinks and leave. Afterwards, the cashier insultingly provokes O-Dog by remarking, "I feel sorry for your mother." Consequently, O-Dog fatally shoots the couple, confiscates the surveillance tape, robs the cashier's wallet and the cash register, and flees with Caine. Caine recounts that his father Tat, a drug dealer, was killed in an unsuccessful drug deal when Caine was 10, and his heroin-addicted mother Karen died of an overdose soon afterwards. This led to his maternal grandparents raising him in the crime-ridden Jordan Downs housing projects.

Following several years of struggling in class, Caine, himself a low-level drug dealer, finally completes high school. On graduation night, Caine and his cousin Harold attend a party, where O-Dog flaunts the surveillance tape to a group of their closest friends, greatly annoying Caine. Later, the cousins are carjacked en route from the party, with Caine suffering a shoulder wound and Harold being murdered. After learning the carjackers' whereabouts, Caine, O-Dog, and their friend A-Wax, an OG, locate and execute them, avenging Harold's death.

Sometime later, Caine visits Ronnie, the girlfriend of his childhood mentor and Tat's business partner Pernell, who is serving life in prison. He bonds with Ronnie’s young son, Anthony, and ensures she has sufficient finances. That night, tasked by their colleague Chauncey, Caine and O-Dog attempt car theft but are arrested. As he is still underage, O-Dog is released with a warning, but Caine is detained as his fingerprints match those on a beer bottle he dropped during the liquor store murders, and though a detective attempts to disorient him by changing the times during interrogation, he is soon released due to the police lacking video evidence. Caine's friends Stacy, a teenage father, and Sharif, a devout Muslim, attempt to convince him to accompany them to Kansas, and both his religious grandfather and Sharif's father, a teacher at a local high school, warn him about potential death or imprisonment unless he changes his ways. Caine, nevertheless, ignores all advice.

Turning to the example set by his deceased parents, Caine purchases and begins cooking a large quantity of crack cocaine, soon becoming a hustler. He also encounters and eventually has sexual intercourse with a local girl named Ilena. One night, he and Sharif are stopped and assaulted by cops, who then dump them in a Hispanic neighborhood. However, the sympathetic Hispanic gang members surprisingly take them to a hospital rather than further assault them as the police anticipated. During his hospitalization, Ronnie invites him to accompany her to her new secretarial job in Atlanta. Initially hesitant, he ultimately agrees. At a party, Caine rescues Ronnie from Chauncey's drunken sexual advances and starts pistol-whipping him, prompting Stacy and Sharif to restrain him. Chauncey retaliates by sending his copy of the surveillance tape to the police, initially unbeknownst to Caine and O-Dog. Ilena phones Caine about her pregnancy, but he denies paternity and rejects her.

Upon witnessing Caine brutally assaulting Ilena's cousin during a confrontation outside their house about Ilena's pregnancy, Caine's grandparents firmly reject his plea to stay with them until he moves to Atlanta. Learning from their friend Doc that Chauncey betrayed them, Caine and O-Dog, now wanted for the liquor store murders, seek refuge at Ronnie's and other friends' houses. O-Dog vows revenge on Chauncey while Ilena's cousin gathers his friends to seek revenge on Caine. Later, Ronnie and Caine visit Pernell in prison, where Caine is gripped by the sight of his incarcerated mentor. Hoping Caine can more positively influence Anthony, Pernell encourages him to relocate to Atlanta.

As Caine and Ronnie are preparing to depart, Ilena's cousin and his friends drive by Ronnie's house and engage in a drive-by shootout. Sharif perishes instantly, while Caine is fatally wounded while attempting to shield Anthony. After the shootout, Stacy and Ronnie emerge from the house, respectively tending to Caine and Anthony. As Caine's life flashes before him, he recalls his grandfather asking him if he cares about being alive, and he realizes in his dying moment that he does.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Originally, rapper MC Ren was set to play A-Wax, but later turned down the role when he joined the Nation of Islam in late 1992. MC Eiht replaced MC Ren's role as A-Wax. Rappers Spice 1 and Tupac Shakur were initially set to play Caine and Sharif respectively, 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. When Shakur was cast in the role of Sharif who, as described in the film was "an ex-knucklehead turned Muslim", he did not agree with how the character was written. While many of his rap music contemporaries were portraying roles similar to their gangsta rap personas, Sharif would have required Shakur to portray the character as a stoic & pious Muslim. According to MC Eiht, who played A-Wax in the film:

My take on it was, everytime we got ready to rehearse, he had an opinion about his character…He wanted them to write in the script WHY he turned Muslim...Show me why I turned Muslim and they wouldn't do it and that's what angered him...You're not just going to give people that ideal that Tupac is just this yeah you know, "preach my brother", fuck that![4]

Six months after the firing, Shakur assaulted Hughes, resulting in Shakur being found guilty of assault and battery.[5][6] Nonetheless, after Tupac's death, Allen Hughes praised the actor, stating "If 'Pac had been in the movie he would've outshined everyone."[7]

Reception[edit]

Menace II Society received generally positive reviews from critics.[8] The film has an 85% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The consensus reads, "Told with grit and verve by the Hughes brothers in their feature debut, Menace II Society is a gangland epic that breathes with authenticity while steeped in style."[9] Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]

Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum stated, "This is a powerful, convincing, and terrifying look at teenage crime in contemporary Watts."[11] Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly gave it a positive review, stating, "Menace II Society is bleak, brilliant, and unsparing."[12]

Emanuel Levy 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."[13] The film was placed on both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's 10 best films of 1993 lists, with Ebert praising "the way the filmmakers tell Caine's story without making him seem either the hero or victim".[14][15]

However, the film has also received some negative reviews. Geoff Andrew of Time Out stated, "Regrettably, the Hughes Brothers' first feature is a compendium of clichés."[16] Stephen Holden of The New York Times stated, "If Menace II Society is terrific on ambiance, it is considerably less successful in revealing character."[17] At the 1994 MTV Movie Awards, the film was awarded Best Movie, beating out the likes of Philadelphia, Jurassic Park and Schindler's List.[18] At the Independent Spirit Award, The film had nominated an for Best First Feature, but lost to El Mariachi (the first installment in the Robert Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy).[19]

The film grossed $27.9 million in the United States and Canada but only $1.6 million internationally for a worldwide total of $29.5 million.[20][2]

Awards and Nomination[edit]

1993 Independent Spirit Awards

1994 MTV Movie Award

Soundtrack[edit]

Main article: Menace II Society (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on May 26, 1993, by Jive Records. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Home media[edit]

The director's cut of Menace II Society was released on LaserDisc in January 1994 via The Criterion Collection.[21][22] In August 2021, Criterion announced that Menace II Society, alongside 5 other films, would be released as a part of its first 4K Ultra HD releases. Criterion indicated each title will be available in a 4K UHD+Blu-ray combo pack including a 4K UHD disc of the feature film as well as the film and special features on the companion Blu-ray. The titles were released in November 2021.[23]

Legacy[edit]

In 2013, rapper and record producer Kanye West cited Menace II Society as one of his "most-watched" favorite films on an episode of the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.[24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "MENACE II SOCIETY (1993)". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Top 100 grossers worldwide, '93-94". Variety. October 17, 1994. p. M-56.
  3. ^ "Menace II Society". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: MC Eiht Says 2Pac Thought 'Menace II Society' Character Wasn't Gangster". www.vladtv.com. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  5. ^ "Tupac Shakur Convicted For Attack On Director Allen Hughes". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. February 28, 1994. p. 18. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Markman, Rob (May 30, 2013). "Tupac Would Have 'Outshined' 'Menace II Society,' Director Admits". MTV. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016.
  7. ^ Guidry, Ken (May 31, 2013). "'Menace II Society' Directors Explain Why Tupac Shakur Got The Boot From Their Gangsta Drama Classic". Indiewire.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  8. ^ Marbella, Jean (July 1, 1993). "Violent 'Menace' drawing accolades from unlikely fans". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  9. ^ "Menace II Society (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "Menace II Society". Metacritic. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  11. ^ "Menace II Society". JonathanRosenbaum.net. June 4, 1993. Archived from the original on June 11, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  12. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 28, 1993). "Menace II Society Review | Movie Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  13. ^ "Menace II Society". EmanuelLevy.com. May 4, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  14. ^ "'Schindler's List' Tops Siskel's & Ebert's Eagerly Awaited '10 Best Films of 1993'". PR Newswire. December 27, 1993. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2011 – via The Free Library.
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger (May 26, 1993). "Menace II Society". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 10, 2011 – via RogerEbert.com.
  16. ^ Andrew, Geoff. "Menace II Society (1993)". Time Out. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  17. ^ Holden, Stephen (May 26, 1993). "Review/Film; Teen-Agers Living Under the Gun". The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  18. ^ "1994 MTV Movie Awards | Past Movie Awards | Awards Show Highlights and Winners". MTV.com. June 4, 1994. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  19. ^ "'Banquet,' 'Ruby' Lead '93 Spirit Nominees". Los Angeles Times. January 14, 1994. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  20. ^ "Menace II Society (1993)". Box Office Mojo. July 27, 1993. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  21. ^ Bennett, Dan (February 18, 1994). "Menace II Society". North County Times. p. 90. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  22. ^ McGowan, Chris (November 6, 1993). "Letterbox Format's Popularity Widens" (PDF). Billboard. p. 73. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  23. ^ Machkovech, Sam (August 11, 2021). "Criterion announces support for 4K UHD Blu-ray, beginning with Citizen Kane". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  24. ^ Dobbins, Amanda (November 18, 2013). "Kanye Did a Podcast with Bret Easton Ellis". Vulture. Retrieved May 5, 2022.

External links[edit]

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