Review of Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003) by Mark W — 29 Apr 2011

Apparently thwarting the dreams of a trio of wannabe rappers wasn't enough for the Leprechaun last time, so once again he returns to the hood to go on a murderous rampage through a slew of urban stereotypes. Word to my ninjas.

'Leprechaun - Back 2 Tha Hood (2003)' is the sixth installment in the Leprechaun franchise, and while it lacks the charms of 'Leprechaun (1993)' or the utter barminess of 'Leprechaun 4 - In Space (1997)', it is at least better than 'Leprechaun in the Hood (2000),' with the Leprechaun thankfully having a larger role to play. The lack of Ice T or cross-dressing men is also welcome.

The story is your typical Leprechaun movie plot, with his gold being stolen, the Leprechaun getting a little peeved and killing all who get in his way, and everyone having a merry ol' time and learning valuable lessons about life, love and greed along the way. This time around, his gold is stolen by Emily Woodrow, female black urban-stereotype #1. She shares the wealth with her friends, female black urban-stereotype #2, goofy male black urban-steretype, and tough drug-dealing male black urban-stereotype. Naturally, the plot isn't too challenging, and sees the group of friends spending the newfound gold on all sorts of luxury items, from bags of weed to heaps of bling.

This irritates the Leprechaun somewhat, and in a manner of fairly amusing ways he begins dispatching random members of the community. The Leprechaun character has now become little more than a slapstick comedy dwarf, getting beat over the head, falling over, and finding himself locked in a fridge. Warwick Davis is still brilliant as the demonic Leprechaun, and we are treated to a little of his backstory, but the menace is somewhat diminished when he's flirting on a phone.

Page Kennedy, as goofy male black urban-stereotype, is a humorous addition. He wisely decides to no longer refer to his black friends as his niggas, but instead his ninjas. I'm not entirely sure which is more racist, but it provides chuckles either way. In a movie that does little to help racial stereotypes, it's a brief flash of genius.

While the story is predictable (after all, we've seen it five times already), the direction is more engaging than the previous installment with interesting characters and a fairly enjoyable script. The production seems a little more polished, although awful scene-transitions do distract a little. Enforcing both Irish and black African American stereotypes, it's unabashed racism is almost endearing. Unfortunately the Leprechaun doesn't spend any part of this movie rapping, which is possibly one of the greatest missed opportunities in the history of cinema.