Review of Menace II Society (1993) by Laurence H — 12 Jun 2012

This is one of those movies that everybody pretends isn't completely moronic because they feel compelled to appreciate it out of a false, 90's sense of cultural guilt. The truth is, this movie was crap and is aging pretty poorly.

This film is a racist bore. It talks itself up, transparent in the cowardice and weakness of its main characters. In this it feels a lot like pro wrestling. All boast, no balls, and a total bluff of tough. Tough guy bad boy movies always walk the same line: they romanticize an element, or mentality, while throwing in cliche moral "life lessons" to teach us that said lifestyle is "bad" so that the film can avoid being criticized for being shallow. Trainspotting did this with heroin, Tarantino does this professional murderers, and Menace does this with those painfully insecure in their masculinity.