it avoids the "we're victims of the man" attitude that most mainstream blaxploitation films spout as some sort of social conscious to paper over the action, this one presents the character and action raw. It reminds me of clockwork orange where you are invited into the private, sick world of the "protagonist", You kind of like him, in spite of the fact that he and his friends are despicable and self centered louts of no redeeming social value. It doesn't fall for the usual socio-rationalizations; these guys didn't have it so bad and they deliberately turned their backs on society and morality. The worse thing about their lives are the role models, most of them despicable but his kind Xtian grandparents, friends and sensible girlfriend make a futile attempt to get him to turn his life around. The men chose the wrong path and were willing to face the consequences. The action was intense and senseless; murders over stupid insults or petty theft. Even KayDee, goes from bad to worse after being the first in his family to graduate high school, as a functionally illiterate drug dealer though. He does a small stretch in county jails then carjacks a man for his car, jewelry and then makes him buy him a burger, at gunpoint. Ole Dog, his murderous og friend, was played by Larenz Tate with a fine fury. The characters are presented as human beings, evil ones, not stereotypes, ones you could sort of care about but never excuse or admire. That alone makes it worth watching.
Review of Menace II Society
