Review of Chi-Raq (2015) by Leon B — 15 Jan 2017

Review:

This movie actually didn't start off to bad but once it started to go down the "ban sex" route, it all got a bit out of hand. Nick Cannon plays rap star Chi-Raq, who is head of the purple-clad gang, the Spartans who have battled against the orange-clad gang, the Trojans, led by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes) for years, in the Southside of Chicago. After Irene's (Jennifer Hudson) 11 year old daughter is murdered on the streets, and Chi-Raq's house is burnt down, his girlfriend, Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) decides to move in with Miss Helen, for her own safety. The murder of Irene's daughter, touches Lysistrata's heart, and she decides to do something about the street violence, which is taking many of the communities life's. After watching a news bulletin about some ladies in Africa who stopped having sex with men to try and stop the violence, Lysistrata decides to use the same method to stop the violence between the Spartans and Trojans. Once the word spreads around the world to all of the ladies, it causes problems in the government, who try various methods to put a stop to the ladies outcry. After a few months of starving the men from any sexual activity, it finally comes down to Lysistrata and Chi-Raq to put a stop to the feud, even though the Trojans have laid down there guns and decided to take the peace route. Although this movie is classed as a musical, it does have a hidden message which is quite touching and the cast didn't keep on jumping into music numbers, which can be quite annoying after a while. I did find the ending pretty ridiculous, and the speeches from Dolmedes (Samuel L. Jackson) got on my nerves but apart from that, I didn't mind it. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, mainly because the rhyming script and the way that the men speak about women, does go over the top in some of the scenes. As this movie is an adaptation of a Greek play, Lysistrata by Aristophanes, I can't completely blame the outcome on the director but I honestly think that could have been something special, if the project was in the right hands. Watchable!

Round-Up:

I must admit, I am quite surprised that Spike Lee was able to make this movie with such a low budget, because it is quite big, in terms of scale, and there was some top names in the cast. Personally, I think that it was way too explicit, and that there was other ways of getting the message across. Anyway, Spike Lee movies have really struggled at the box office of late, and with this movie making such a lose in terms of profit, I'm surprised that the studios are still believing in his projects. The Oldboy remake lost about $25million at the box office along with the Miracle of St. Anna, which lost $35million, so he's definitely not a bankable director. This movie was originally supposed to have Kanye West in the lead but his hectic schedule meant that he had to pass on the project. I think his name would have pulled in more of an audience but it still would have struggled to break even. Anyway, I did find this movie to be watchable but it did go down some unnecessary avenues, which spoilt the flow of the film.

Budget: $15million.

Worldwide Gross: $2.7million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/crime/dramas, starring Nick Cannon, Samuel L. Jackson, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, John Cusack, Jennifer Hudson, David Patrick Kelly, D.B. Sweeney, Dave Chappelle, Steve Harris, Harry Lennix, Roger Guenveur Smith and Isiah Whitlock Jr. 4/10.