definitely underrated (spoilers and thoughts)

pros and why it rules:
- kick-ass and inspiring story about wanting to be treated equally and get easy problems in an inner city school (leaky roof, broken window in the school, only good teacher in the school rehired after being fired for no good reason) fixed.
- great characters, especially Ziggy and Lester.... especially Ziggy.
- why Lester does it all in the first place (his father)... EXCELLENT. And that's EXACTLY what cops would have done, too... because most cops are scumbags... here the father was being stubborn, and in disbelief that his own precinct didn't recognize him as an NYPD officer. Shows clearly how white people (and I am white) stereotype blacks as criminals. Note that two of the cops in the flashback scene were white. This is a huge problem that still goes on today, in 2007. We must stop the ignorance, the prejudice, the stereotyping. Don't rush to judgement until ALL facts are in. Lester's mission was to make a difference, a positive one.... even though at the time, he was full of rage (not just over his father's death but the pathetic way the school was run). He ultimately did get the demands met... but with one major sacrifice: Ziggy.
- all the characters were tied in together nicely... and each had their own cool thing to bring to the table.
- it's great seeing a movie like this, about a youthful revolution... which you don't see much of anymore, nor hear about. They had to do what they had to do. For so many reasons. And it worked out for everyone for the most part... except for Ziggy.
- I love movies where they have an artsy character... well in this case, two- Sara Gilbert as Lynn and Robert Ri'chard as Ziggy. Being an artist myself, it's great to see two smart characters who are also artsy. Artists in general, in movies, don't get a lot of respect, especially in mainstream films, as they are often portrayed as eccentric nutcases with nothing of importance to say. Far from true. I really like how they portrayed Lynn and Ziggy.
- I dig how Jackson came around, and finally understood what these kids were doing, and trying to achieve. Him hugging Lester at the end shows that he finally got it, especially when he was on the stand in court. Very cool that he did a 180.
- etc.

cons and holes:
- over the top in a lot of places... not acting, just the storyline and certain scenes. Namely the ending, with Ziggy... and why not Lester? With all the snipers on the roof and in the helicopter, why Ziggy? Lester's holding the gun... maybe they fired at Fredro Starr's gangster character, but Ziggy got in the way, because he was running crazy and screaming? I don't know. But it doesn't make sense that Ziggy was taken out and Lester wasn't. Then again, the tribute to Ziggy was great, as his now-deceased narrator talks of each student and where they're at presently. Well-done... but again, why Ziggy?
- The whole ending scene on the roof (more complaints)... too much happened too quickly. Ok, the gunshot. Obviously it was Lester firing elsewhere. Because after this, Jackson hugs him. Then Fredro Starr comes in and tries to take Jackson out. And Lester's like "stop!" and then here comes Ziggy, who sees the laser on Lester's head, and it's like... what the hell just happened? So much happened in like 10 seconds. Makes it confusing as hell. And they still didn't fire at Lester, even though he seemed to still be holding the gun, while trying to keep Ziggy alive... ugh. Just writing about it makes my head hurt. I just finished the DVD and the menu music is repeating over and over, making me not be able to concentrate. haha.
- another annoying thing about the movie and a definite negative - the negotiator (Vanessa Williams), getting shut out by the main captain/dou chebag guy who seemed to want nothing except to kill these kids (Lester especially) and not listen to a damn thing he was saying or meet any of their demands. I thought that was terribly uncool. Did they not listen to Vanessa's character because she was a woman? And a black woman at that? I thought it sucked that they just ignored everything she was trying to do, from the get-go, when she introduced herself as the negotiator, the guy ordered the officers to raid the school and to fire...... she finally had to get on the megaphone and be like "hold your fire!!!".... she was the only one who actually knew these kids were actually good students... and that their actions were so unlike their respective histories... she was trying to get to the bottom of everything, and did! But look how many times the captain/sergeant or whatever shut her out (cutting the school's power, hence ending the 3-way phone call with her and Knowles) and then relieving her of duty... what a scumbag that guy was... god, that whole thing annoyed me.
- That lame-ass kid talking up the takeover on the news... who was he and why the hell did they give him so much time on-camera? Pointless character.

Man, I need some sleep.

This film is so damn underrated though. It is very, very strong up until the last 5-10 minutes (not counting Ziggy's monologue, which really makes you feel good and think hard, at the very end)... the ending before that (rooftop scene) could have been better.. but the remaining 95% of the film is better than 95% of the crappy movies out these days. God I miss the 90s.

Usher CAN act, by the way... I thought he was totally great as Lester.

I really need sleep.

Thoughts?