MovieChat Forums > Menace II Society (1993) Discussion > A Grittier Boyz N The Hood?

A Grittier Boyz N The Hood?

posted 13 years ago by afilmaday
3 replies | jump to latest

This is Menace II Society; one of the grittier movies from the Hood genre, Menace II Society follows the story of protagonist Caine as he narrates his life, living on the streets of South Central, LA. Him, along with his best friend O-Dog, takes us on a journey through these streets and is a grittier look than Boyz in the Hood. Unlike previous reviews, I’ve detailed every aspect of the film’s plot to ensure the reader knows what I’m referencing and where; I’m thinking this time get straight into analysing this movie!

I will say this now, the opening to the movie is easily in my Top 5 Movie Openings of All Time! It’s just outright cool, sets the tone without fail and knows this is not going to be like any Hollywood Blockbuster you’ll be seeing that summer. The dialogue begins over the New Line Cinema logo in the opening credits, which feeds out this outward vibe of rebellion, callousness of the protagonists and directionless youths.

The dialogue in this movie is riddled with gratuity, colloquialism and aggression, which reflects their daily lives.

Full review, check out

http://anyfilmaday.blogspot.com/2011/03/menace-ii-society.html

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Frankc_ca 11 years ago

Menace II Society is grittier, but it is also a different movie with different characters and with different points and they also take place in different neighborhoods.

Boyz in the Hood took place in a more middle-class area of South Central and was more about the importance of staying on the right path. Menace II Society took place in the projects of Watts and was about how going down the wrong path can kill you.

[–] everydayboredom1980 9 years ago

They are both "hood flicks" that took place a couple years apart, both in SC LA, but not that similar. Off those hood movies parodied by the Wayans brothers, I thought there were more similarities with Boyz n the Hood and South Central, which were both heavy on the importance of father/son relationships.

The Hughes brothers are big Scorsese fans and said they were influenced by him. Menace is sort of like a black Mean Streets/Goodfellas. Like Goodfellas, it starts off with a brutal murder, flashes back to childhood and shows their family lives and entrances into the world of crime, and then goes to present day. The house party scene has a pretty long tracking shot, with narration and introducing characters, similar to the scene in the restaurant when Henry Hill's narration talks about different mob members and associates.

Menace is sort of Mean Streets-like with its episodic structure. Also the main characters are sort of caught in an internal struggle with their conscience, while they both have violent lunatics for best friends.