Menace II Society

5/26/19931h 37m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ This is the truth. This is what's real. ~

Overview:

A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.

Director:

Allen Hughes

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$3,500,000.00

Revenue:

$27,900,000.00

Key words:

drug dealer
street gang
gangster
ghetto
delinquency
los angeles, california
shocking
angry
aggressive
hopeless
desperate
cautionary
antagonistic
apathetic
callous
foreboding
inflammatory
informative

Cast

Tyrin Turner

~ as ~

Caine 'Kaydee' Lawson

Larenz Tate

~ as ~

Kevin 'O-Dog'

Glenn Plummer

~ as ~

Pernell

Jada Pinkett Smith

~ as ~

Ronnie

Samuel L. Jackson

~ as ~

Tat Lawson

June Kyoto Lu

~ as ~

Grocery Store Woman

Toshi Toda

~ as ~

Grocery Store Man

Reginald Ballard

~ as ~

Clyde

Khandi Alexander

~ as ~

Karen Lawson

Jullian Roy Doster

~ as ~

Anthony

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

r96sk
Written 3 month(s) ago
8
'Menace II Society' delivers an eventful 90 minutes! It's a film I certainly like, it is a predictable (beginning aside) ride but one that does manage to hit a fair bit. The characters are admittedly not the most likeable, though their predicament is still easy to connect to.

Tyrin Turner makes for a solid lead, with Larenz Tate and Jada Pinkett (Smith) the pick of the rest; the latter, to be honest, brings the best acting of the main bunch. Aside from Pinkett, I did find the acting to be imperfect - not bad, whatsoever, but those away from Jada do get a bit cringey in parts. Good to see Samuel L. Jackson involved, albeit minimally.

The ending, whilst good and totally serviceable, did irritate me slightly. I won't spoil what happens, but the 'last act' of Caine doesn't make total sense; you can tell they done it like that because it sounded dramatic on paper. Is it just me or did he laughably put the young fella in more danger? It took me out of the scene, I can't lie.

Overall, this 1993 release is very good. I just evidently had a couple of (relatively minor, but noteworthy) issues with it, that's all.