Chi-Raq (2015)

Disappointment for a huge fan!

Best movie ever!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Coming off a well receptive original run from 411 BC Greece, Aristophanes' play lives on because of the universal themes it projects. Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) leads the women of Chicago from with holding sex from men until the gang wars stop and the men surrender their arms. They take over the National Guard Armory similar to the take over of the Acropolis in the original tale. Spike Lee maintained the idea of the divided chorus, but his version had more differences than similarities.In this film two gangs are at war: Trojans who wear orange lead by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes). They are fighting against the Spartans who wear purple and are lead by Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon). John Cusack plays a preacher/priest in the community. The dialogue is mostly poetic, much in a rap style. The issues go deep and is supportive of Black Lives Matter, painting everyone in South Carolina as racists. It is also anti-NRA and the politics of the film is the cause for both the love and the hate. Most of the politics is presented in a funeral eulogy delivered by John Cusack who wasn't poetic. Drugs are alluded to, but are not considered a major problem.Samuel L. Jackson plays Dolmedes who narrates the story and gives us the Greek background. Spike Lee has managed to find clothes that don't look good on Jackson as well as poetry he can't master. Lee also uses numerous Greek names in the film, including the gang names that were not in the original play. For instance Oedipus (Wade F. Wilson) describes an unhealthy relationship with his mother.Certainly worth a view for liberals. Conservatives will most likely be less enthusiastic.Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity. Adult themes and language throughout.

I get it: Lysistrata in modern day Chicago. But it feels like Spike needed to make some hard choices. Ancient Greek or Modern America? Both and? No. You end up with selective rhyming, female stereotypes and over-simplified gang violence...it failed as an adaptation, it failed as a realistic portrayal. So much unrealized potential here. West Side Story it is not.

Spike Lee has always been one of my favorite director/producers. Most of his films are thought provoking, well crafted, and controversial. I put him up there with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese. Every once in a while a brilliant director can fall short of his own talents. In Spike Lee's case that would be "Chi-Raq". "Chi- Raq" wasn't one of Spike Lee's best. This Spike Lee Joint didn't have that craftiness and theatrical savvy his other films had. To me it seems as if this film was just put together for the sake of spreading or sending a message, which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, even if that were the case this film could have been way much better. I think this film is supposed to be a modern adaptation of the Aristophanes play "Lysistrata", if so the way the lines were delivered made the film a little corny and unbelievable. It was too far-fetched and the parts that were supposed to be funny weren't funny. One thing I did like about this film was the fact that Spike Lee kept up with his tradition of using the same actors he always use like Roger Guenveur Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, and Wesley Snipes. Wesley Snipes playing as a leader of a gang is a great idea but how he played the role of Cyclops, that didn't really fit him. Nick Cannon kind of surprised me with his role of Chi-Raq. He did a pretty convincing job playing that hard G roll and Teyonah Parris played the role of Lysistrata with just the right amount of attitude and finesse. Hopefully this film is just something Spike Lee put out there just for the sake of the message, I know he'll put some top quality material out there in again.

Positives:1. Nick Cannon delivered a very good performance (I was surprised because I thought he was going suck)2. The tone can be funny3. The tone can be depressing4. The different tones blended together pretty well5. Teyonah Parris did a good job6. Dave Chappelle steals a scene that he's in7. When the moral messages are on screen, I instantly feel the emotional pain8. The ending is good if not greatNegatives:1. Wesley Snipes, what the fu*k is with that accent (I understand you were trying to be funny, but something just didn't sit well with me)2. The movie could have moved at a faster pace (I felt that some scenes were a bit unnecessary)3. Some of the comedy and the seriousness didn't blend particularly well together during certain scenes4. Jennifer Hudson can not act (they should have gotten a no name)Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I had fun, I laughed, and I was depressed at times all throughout this movie. This movie has some minor flaws, but I don't care.Finale Grade: B+