Review of Chi-Raq (2015) by Crusader . — 02 Jan 2016

Genius idea for the film's creators (Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott) to use satire in dealing with a very serious issue throughout our nation right now: Gun violence. Although Chi-Raq more specifically addresses the black-on-black crimes in portions of Chicago, the message "too many guns," "NRA too powerful," "too many deaths" gets across.

For me, the most memorable scene is John Cusack, as a white Father Corridon, during the funeral service of a black girl who died from a stray bullet. He will certainly get nominated for Best Supporting Actor from the various awards organizations.

During the first 10 minutes of the film, I thought "This is overkill, this is too extreme," but I was determined to give it at least 30 minutes and am glad I did. It took about that long to figure out what the film was all about and why they used extreme satire to get the message across. I am certain that without the satire, most folks would never watch the entire film because it deals candidly with a depressing and dark subject.

I had no idea what to expect, especially as a white suburban male, and hope Chi-Raq paves the way for progress for peace and non-violence everywhere!