Movie Review: Urban Menace

Urban Menace

Filmwerks, Imperial Entertainment, USA, Slovakia, 1999.

In the beginning Ice-T warns about the violence and bad language. Well, the visuals are so murky and effects so bad that the violence is not much of a problem. As for the language, there are more naughty words than other words. Next he tells how urban renewal sucks. In the Bronx three gang bosses are murdered. The killer is unknown but there is a possible link to burning of a church last year.

Ice-T

King (T.J. Storm) gives information about gangs to cop Harper (Rob Ladesich) so he and his wife Jolene (Eva La Dare as Karen Dyer) can get tickets out of Bronx. The cops want gang boss Crow (Big Pun). Mystical killer (Snoop Dogg) is butchering Crow's men. Crow send two crackheads Shadow (Vincent Klyn) and Holt (Tahitia Hicks, who after her acting career has worked as camera operator for reality shows such as enjoyable "Ice Road Truckers") to hunt the killer. Shadow dies and Holt runs away in terror.

Jolene and King

Holt

Shadow kicks the bucket

Gang bosses Crow (Big Pun) and Terror (Fat Joe) like McDonalds and it shows. They send King to kill the mysterious man. King takes with him Cool D (Jahi J.J. Zuri) and Syn (Romany Malco). Crow and Terror suspect that King is an informer so they kidnap Jolene. The mysterious man helps King. He is Preacher Caleb the Holy Man. Snoop Dogg as a priest? I'm sure his sermons were something to hear fo sizzle. The gangstas burned his church and killed innocent kids. Caleb returned as an undead(?) avenger and now it is the time of reckoning.

Crow and Terror

Cool D

King and Syn

As this was filmed together with "The Wrecking Crew" the production values are equally low. The theme song is exactly the same as in "The Wrecking Crew." Also the building where most of the action occurs is the same. Some scenes featuring Snoop Dogg are also recycled in "The Wrecking Crew." The picture quality is not grainy this time but it has bizarre blur and blue glow.

Caleb is angry

This is either portal to hell or bad lens glare

Leather trench coats à la "The Matrix"

Marginally this is more fun and coherent than "The Wrecking Crew." It almost reaches the "So bad it is good" territory.  Most of the (unintentional) fun comes from the over the top performances of Big Pun (R.I.P.) and Fat Joe who mumble unintelligibly and are gangsta to the point of self-parody. Big Pun wears a Big Pun shirt. There is some attempt to imitate "The Matrix" as everyone is wearing leather trench coats. Snoop Dogg's stunt double has move screen time than Snoop himself. It is slightly interesting that Snoop Dogg performs a bit different role than his later laid-back pimp characters. Okay, his acting consists mostly of looking angry, slashing some bad guys and talking about revenge. Some digging into the subject (Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Volume 2 Greenwood Icons Ed. Mickey Hess page 328) reveals that Snoop developed his pimp persona year later in 2000. Avoid unless you absolutely need to see some hilariously bad gangsta action.

Rating: Very bad

Starring: Snoop Dogg, Big Pun (as Big Punisher), Ice-T, Fat Joe, T.J. Storm, Vincent Klyn, Romany Malco, Tahitia Hicks, Eva La Dare (as Karen Dyer), Ernie Hudson Jr., Jahi J.J. Zuri, Rob Ladesich, Michael Walde-Berger, Michaela Polakovicova, Ed Satterwhite, Jason Stapleton, Lubo Salater, Robert Ughoro

Director: Albert Pyun