Went to see Spike Lee’s new movie Chi-Raq, a movie that kind of proves Spike Lee will make whatever in hell he wants. The film is a retelling of an ancient Greek play by Aristophanes while it’s also a serious drama about gang violence in Chicago AND a comedy about what women will do to stop it. Samuel L. Jackson, dressed up in various colorful three-piece suits, pops in as the narrator/Greek Chorus (only with more mother f*ckers than usual. Most of the dialog is told in rhyming dialog.

This is a very angry (and funny) movie that points a finger at everyone and everything for the high level of gun deaths in Chicago… called Chi-Raq because, as it points out, there have been more gun deaths – mostly black-on-black gang violence – in Chicago than deaths of US special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan in the same time period (between 2010 to now). It points fingers at the politicians, the corporations, the community, and the gang members, though it focuses heavily on the community (where nobody ever sees who shot who) and the responsibility of the gang members. It’s an angry, pissed-off film… except when it’s not.

It is also a comedy (and a satire) where the girlfriends of the gang members decide to take away the one thing they love the most (besides their guns) until they agree to stop the killing. As the ad copy for the movie says, “No Peace, No Piece”… or as they say in the movie, “No Peace, no P*ssy”. Yes, until the men stop the killing, they won’t be gettin’ any… and the strike includes strippers and prostitutes as well. It’s pretty over-the-top and broad comedy. For example, the ladies take over a US Army recruitmant office and the cops and soldiers try to get them out by blasting them with some smooth, sexy jams… oh yeaaah.

The wild swings between the death of a little girl due to gang gunfire and the take-over of the base by the ladies is pretty extreme but Spike Lee makes it work. It has an angry voice that it smooths over with some wild and broad comedy. This probably shouldn’t work, but it does.

I really enjoyed this movie. It’s as subtle as a sledge-hammer but I guess Spike Lee doesn’t think there’s time to be subtle. I mean, the movie stars with flashing words, “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY” on screen and then plays a full rap song about the violence in Chi-Raq, flashing the words of the song against a black screen for a full three minutes. No, you won’t mistake his message.

Score: 87