Review of Chi-Raq (2015) by Tim J — 18 Jan 2016

I don't think I've seen a movie quite like this before. One so compelling in its message of peace, yet unabashedly weird and unorthodox in its presentation. CHI-RAQ is a modern-day retelling of the Ancient Greek play Lysistrata set in the south side of Chicago, which experiences gang violence on a regular basis.

In order to stop it, Lysistrata organizes a sex strike that she hopes will bring an end to the carnage. I haven't seen too much by Spike Lee, so I don't really have any preconceived notions about him (except that maybe OLDBOY was an ill-advised remake).

What really drew me to this was that it takes on a very real problem and does its best to initiate a dialogue. Gun violence is something that Americans usually shy away from discussing, and often miss the point when they do (I'll include myself too).

Some of the most powerful moments in the film are often simply homilies directed at the audience. However, the nature of the film is a double-edged sword. Tonally, it ping-pongs between borderline comedy to extremely serious, emotional scenes.

It doesn't always work, and to be honest, the film tries to do a little too much. Not content with the epidemic of gun violence in Chicago, it manages to work in the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, prisons, and economic disenfranchisement of the Black community.

It's a lot to take in, but the nuggets are there. From a technical perspective, the film is surely well-made and the actors all do a great job delivering the rhyming dialogue. There's not too much in the way of character development, but I can give that a pass because of the source material.

What makes it not as good as it could have been is, again, a lack of focus and imbalance, but also that it comes cloaked in religious nonsense. What we need are appeals to reason and education rather than blind faith if we're ever going to get anywhere.

This isn't a film I'll watch too often, maybe not again. Other than Spike Lee fans, I'm not sure who this would appeal to, but it does cover an important topic that will need to be more fully addressed in the future if peace is to be achieved in actuality.