Menace II Society

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Menace II Society
This is the truth. This is what's real.
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 (as Jada Pinkett) Appearances: Samuel L. Jackson MC Eiht Bill Duke Charles S. Dutton Todd Anthony Shaw
Music by	Various artists
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	May 26, 1993 (limited) May 28, 1993 (nationwide)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$3.5 million
IMDb profile

Menace II Society is the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. A theatrical release hit theaters (nationwide) May 28, 1993, with the movie making an appearance before that, at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The film grossed an estimated total of $30 million, making it one of the highest grossing low-budget films of all time. Its release at that period couldn't have been better timed, as the early 1990s were the peak era for the then-popular hood movies.

The film gained notoriety with its famous liquor store scene and was rebuked for its frequent use of sadistic violence. However, despite mixed reviews, the movie was critically acclaimed for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.

The film takes place in South Central Los Angeles, an area of L.A. that is often portrayed as violent in the media. It 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. However, 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.

[edit] Synopsis

The movie literally starts off with a bang, as O-Dog and a flustered Caine make a run for it after a liquor store robbery. They are in the store to buy malt liquor before going to a party. The Korean shopkepper and his wife are watching them and urging them to leave. The shopkeeper's comment about feeling sorry for O-Dog's mother ("I feel sorry for your mother.") provokes O-Dog to shoot the man, then his wife (to eliminate a witness). O-Dog takes money from the cash register and the surveillance videotape.

Several years before the start of Caine's 18th summer, 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 half the time, so a young Caine has no one to take care of him and is left to fend for himself in a world of drugs, guns, and violence. This is an unforgiving world - one that, luckily, Caine is given a handle on by a ubiquitous Pernell, who becomes in a way Caine's "street" father, a replacement for the often absent "real" father Caine never truly comes to know.

Years later, with Pernell in jail and his parents gone, Caine has come to live 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. But the celebration quickly turns to tears as Harold and Caine are "caught slippin'" and are both shot during a carjacking for the "beamer". Fortunately, Caine is only shot in his shoulder, which causes him to go into shock. But cousin Harold isn't so lucky - a bullet enters his brain, prematurely ending his life.

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 5-year-old son, Anthony, a boy who oftentimes 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 he had had with Pernell years before. This relationship - the one we see with Caine, Ronnie, and Anthony - shows us a different side to our rather unconventional hero.

As the summer drags on, Caine becomes implicated in two additional murders, grand theft auto, and the acquisition of stolen goods: an unserialized car, rims, jewelry, and "a double burger with cheese." He's also learned that cops can be as "hard" as he can, but what sets them apart from him is that they have a badge and a gun, where he only has a gun. Caine winds up in the hospital after experiencing police brutality. 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 we see Caine slowly reminisce 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.

With Pernell's encouragement, Caine decides to go with Anthony and his mother. And in the final scenes of the movie, we see the gang, even O-Dog, taking Caine's belongings out of the rooms and into the 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. But earlier in the film, Caine had impregnated a girl named Ilena, and Ilena's cousin, angry from getting beaten up by Caine not too long ago, wants to catch him just before he leaves. As Caine and his friends are about to leave, Ilena's cousin and his buddies do a drive-by of the house. Caine and his friend Sharif are both riddled with bullets, and die. Caine took many of the bullets as he shielded Anthony. As we see several flashback images from the movie, as well as one of O-Dog being arrested for the robbery that took place at the film's beginning, a narrating Caine tells us that he wishes he had made better choices because he is killed in the final moments of the film.

[edit] Impact on Culture

While the movie was seen by critics as a gritty portrayal of urban strife, many fans of the movie felt that it actually glamourized the lifestyle. This was the exact opposite of what the directors had intended when making the movie. This movie, along with popular debut albums from Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, helped to popularize the thug lifestyle idolized by black youths in the early nineties. The sum of these influences have been largely blamed for contributing to the educational achievement gap and the negative self image of young black men.

The movie was largely successful due to the brilliant and realistic dialogue in the movie. 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. As a result, many fans of the movie are able to recite lines from the movie almost verbatim. There have been many references to the movie in pop culture. The most recent example is The Boondocks cartoon series incorporating quotes from the movie into the dialogue of the character voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. 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 the song "high all the time" 50 cent raps about someone he knows from his hood "sippin' Guinness watching Menace and Oh Lord, have a young nigga buckin shit like he O-Dog" and similarly in "New York" The Game raps "its the sequel to Menace and Oh Lord he done went O-Dog"

b==Quotables==

• "Brace yo'self nigga! Brace yo'self!!"
• "Man you know what nigga? You acting like a lil' bitch right now. You actin' real paranoid and shit. Now these motherfuckers smoked yo' god damn cousin, in front of you nigga. Blew his head off in front of yo' face and you ain't gon' do shit? You actin like a little bitch right now nigga. Man fuck that I ain't lettin that shit ride. We gon' go out there and smoke all these motherfuckers I don't give a fuck who the fuck out there. God dammit! Is you down nigga?" (O-Dog to Caine)

• "Fuck this shit, I'm sellin' these motha' fuckas fo' fitty nine niny five" (O-Dog, Talking about the robbery tapes)

• "Man don't be actin like no pussy when we get the fuck out there neither!" (O-Dog to Caine before the ambush)

• "Bitch fuck the forms! We need a doctor! He's bleeding to death over here!" (Keisha to ER nurse)

• "What the hell are you doing, I don't want my son learning to pull drive-bys!" (Ronnie to Caine)

• "O-Dog was the craziest nigga alive. America's nightmare. Young, black, and didn't give a fuck."

• "I want your motherfuckin' Daytons and your motherfuckin' stereo. And I'll take a double burger with cheese." (Caine to person he is carjacking)

• "Yo Wax, yo nigga, let me get some links with them grits man, hurry up. I'm hungry than a motherfucker out here!" (Chauncey to Wax)

• "I thought I'd feel better after killin' those guys, but I didn't feel like anything, I just knew I could kill a man and if I had to I could do it again"

• "Who got some snaps on the petrol?"

• "What you scared to come through this neighborhood at night? You ain't scared to have the black man steal for yo funky ass is you?"

• "Ain't shit gon' happen. Alright? Alright?! Now we just gon' find these little marks and smoke 'em. Shit ain't that hard!" (O-Dog to Caine while searching for the men who murdered Caine's cousin)

• "Any of yall want a hamburger? What's wrong...yall don't want no hamburger?" (O-Dog after killing a crackhead and taking the bag of burgers the crackhead offered in exchange for drugs)
• " ay nigga I wanna know if you ready to do this shit" (O-Dog to Caine)

• "Suck on that you bitch ass trick" (O-Dog after shooting crackhead)
• "A I'll suck yo dick" ( Crackhead to O-dog)

• "Look at them mother-fuckin wheels"

• [Playing cards at a table]

Tat Lawson: Look here, man. Now that you been out the joint two weeks don't you think it's about time you gave me my money? Man: Told you I ain't got your money yet, man. Tat Lawson: 'da fuck you mean you ain't got my money yet? motherfuckin' everybody know about that money you hid from that robbery! Man: mu'phucka I told you I ain't got your money yet, man! Tat Lawson: [tilts head to the left] Tat Lawson: 'Da fuck you mean you ain't got my money yet? muthafucka you best be comin' up wit' my cash or else you know what I'm sayin? Man: Fuck you, Tat! fuck you think you is muthafuckin Ron O'Neill or som'm? talkin' about I better pay or else, I ain't your bitch nigga! Man: [shrugs] Well... whatcha gon' do? Tat Lawson: Oh... what I'm gon' do? [pulls out revolver and points it at the man] Man: What? I'm supposed to be scared now that you pull out a pistol muthafucka? I just spent five muthafuckin' years in the joint... I told ya I pay yo monkey-ass when I feel like it! better suck my dick! Tat Lawson: [while he shoots the man 8 times] suck on this muthafucka!

[edit] External links

• Menace II Society at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Theatrical trailer - official theatrical trailer at Warner Online Trailers