Some of the scenes are deliberate shot for shot remakes with great comedic effect.
Fox, the movie really knows the films it’s mocking. From the blatant “MESSAGE!” yelled by the mailman whenever some heavy handed themes are being mentioned, to the painful “There ain’t no positive black females in these movies” cameo by Vivica A. Most of the film’s jokes are great, and it manages to poke fun at almost every aspect of the hood films it loves so much. Tracey Cherelle Jones rounds out the core cast as Dashiki, a transparent woman looking for a man to take care of her and her eight kids. Suli McCullough plays a downright creepy and deranged parody of Chris from Boyz with a fully loaded wheelchair complete with gold daytons. Chris Spencer plays Preach, a Furious Styles-Sharif composite who is hilariously confused about his convictions. Sometimes, Marlon's overacting does get wearisome but he and his brother have great chemistry and comedic timing ensuring that most of the jokes hit their mark. Loc Dog (Marlon Wayans) is based off of O-Dog, and is the Watts gangbanger pushed to the absolute extreme for great comedic effect. Ashtray is naive to the point of stupidity and does a great job as our clueless straight man. But other than that the film doesn’t overstay its welcome and manages to keep the length at just over 90 minutes.Īshtray (Shawn Wayans), a composite of Caine and Tre Styles, is our protagonist. Furthermore, some of the jokes aren’t funny and some gags go on for way too long at times.
The movie tends to meander, coming back to its shoestring plot to advance the film, which can be somewhat grating, but overall, it's not a hindrance. All of the main characters are composites from this genre with Boyz and Menace getting the most nods. That’s fine, as long as the jokes and gags are funny, and they are. The plot’s main purpose is to move the film along around different jokes and gags that poke fun at the genre. Story? Narrative? What are those? At best, the film has a loose narrative, which structures a coming-of-age style hood film in the vein of Boyz in the Hood and Menace II Society(two of the films it satirizes the most). is a wildly outrageous and funny movie, with a sharp eye and understanding of the material it's mocking.
Despite the negative reception, at its core Don't Be a Menace. The movie was panned upon its release and currently has a 29% rating on rotten tomatoes. Oh, hello Don’t Be a Menace in South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, I didn’t see you there on Netflix! Don’t Be a Menace. if you didn’t already guess, is a satirical parody of the very hood films I’ve been reviewing thus far. Before I move on from reviewing hood films, to other areas of black cinema, culture, and history a bit of a palate cleanser is necessary.