History Film / MenaceIISociety

* AsianStoreOwner: The opening scene features Caine and O-Dog stopping by a convenience store to get some beer. The Asian store owner and his wife treat them with such suspicion and rudeness that O-Dog snaps and murders them both.

* BerserkButton: O-Dog ''might'' have spared the AsianStoreOwner (keyword being ''[[AxCrazy might]]'') if he hadn't said [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas he felt sorry for O-Dog's mother]].

* HairTriggerTemper: O-Dog, who could accurately be described as a black, slightly more trigger-happy version of [[Film/GoodFellas Tommy DeVito]]. After killing the said AsianStoreOwner couple mentioned above, he steals the surveillance tape and proudly plays it for his friends on numerous occasions, much to Caine's chagrin.

** O-Dog stands out as the most psychotic, sadistic and unlikable of the bunch. He's a toxic friend to Caine who doesn't respect his desire to leave the ghetto behind and start anew, embraces his own violent side and actively brings out the worst in Caine. He also has no morals or common sense to hold him back from being a horrible person. He really drives this point further when he kills an innocent Asian store owner and his wife for making an off-hand comment about his mother and then shows the surveillance tape to his friends for means of entertainment. He later kills a drug addict for harassing him and steals his food.
** Chauncey might not be as sociopathic or sadistic as O-Dog, but he certainly lacks in terms of loyalty and competence. He is a complete prick to everyone around him and a lazy, irresponsible and unambitious moron whose deliberately botched plan to hijack a car has both Caine and O-Dog arrested. He later harasses Ronnie in front of her child and boyfriend which gets him beaten up and as means of getting back at his friends, he sends the videotape of O-Dog whacking the Asian store owner to the police. It's no wonder why none of his friends really like him.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Besides the above PoliceBrutality incident, many characters are thrilled by the tape of O-Dog killing the AsianStoreOwner, and O-Dog himself is a homophobe [[spoiler:who kills a beggar offering food for money when he asks for sexual favors as payment]].

** The Korean store clerk, who feels the need to insult O-Dog's mother, which gets him (and his wife) killed. No one could predict O-Dog would ''murder'' them for a comment, but O-Dog wasn't exactly hiding how unstable he was, and comments like that just add fuel to the flame.

** Harold, who tries to reach for a gun while being held at gunpoint by one of the carjackers.
** Ilena's cousin, ''who didn't even know who Caine was and had to ask'', and waltzed into a rival 'hood with no weapon nor backup. Cue the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from Caine.

** The rival gang members after brutally killing Caine's cousin for no reason after stealing his car. Later, they are seen bullying and harassing a female hot dog cart worker.

** O-Dog stands out as the most psychotic, sadistic and unlikable of the bunch. He's a toxic friend to Caine who doesn't respect his desire to leave the ghetto behind and start anew, embraces his own violent side and actively brings out the worst in Caine. He also has no morals or common sense to hold him back from being a horrible person. He really drives this point further when he kills an innocent Asian store owner and his wife for making an off-hand comment about his mother and then shows the surveillance tape to his friends for means of entertainment. He later kills a drug addict for not paying his debts and steals his food.

* BloodierAndGorier[=/=]DarkerAndEdgier[=/=]SpiritualAntithesis: This film is far more violent, dramatic, downbeat, darker and edgier than ''Film/BoyzNTheHood''. The film has almost no lighter moments, mainly for the ending. ''Everything'' in this film is PlayedForDrama. Both films chronicle the struggles of the ghetto. But While Creator/JohnSingleton's film followed Tre, a decent kid who ultimately stays straight and escapes the hood, ''Menace'' follows one of the many youths who succumb to the streets and don't make it out. The Creator/HughesBrothers wanted their film to sort of be the reverse side of the coin that we saw in ''Boyz''.

->''"My grandpa asked me one time if I care whether I live or die. Yeah, I do. Now it's too late."''

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* ArcWords: "Do you care whether you live or die?" Several characters ask Caine this question (or a variation thereof), and he's honestly not sure.

* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: Caine doesn't live to see it bear out, but if he was trying to escape street life, Atlanta made little sense as a destination.

* JerkAssHasAPoint: Even though his motive for doing so is kind of questionable, Chauncey did the right thing by turning the robbery footage over to police. O-Dog was a sociopathic monster, and needed to be off the streets.

* ClusterFBomb: More so than in ''Boyz n the Hood'', with a whopping 305 uses of "fuck"--at the time, even outdoing ''{{Film/Goodfellas}}'' by 5 f-bombs. (''{{Film/Casino}}'' would later outdo ''Menace'' by '''117''' f-bombs.)

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even A-Wax is stunned by O-Dog's sociopathy [[spoiler:when O-Dog shoots the beggar for offering food in exchange for sexual favors, then offers the dead man's food bag to his friends.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** Being shot in the lungs is not a nice way to go. [[spoiler: Caine discovers this the hard way when Ilena's cousin and his friends use his chest as a shooting range, and leaves Caine laying on the ground, gasping for air and choking on his own blood in the most excruciating way possible.]]
** Caine during the interrogation scene without a lawyer present or even asking to speak to lawyer and the detective is able to take him apart with ease. Although it’s justified on Caine’s part because this was his first arrest and nobody ever taught him how to conduct himself in that type of situation.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:"My grandpa asked me one time if I care whether I live or die. Yeah, I do. And now it's too late."]]

** Caine getting carjacked at a stoplight when he himself had just carjacked someone earlier.

* NameOfCain: The main character is a hood guy named Caine. While he's not as bad as his AxCrazy friend O-Dog, he still can't escape the culture of violence. The facial scars he gets as the film progresses also allude to the mark of Cain.

The story centers around a street life thug named Caine (Tyrin Turner) and his friend [[HairTriggerTemper O-Dog]] (Creator/LarenzTate) living in the streets of Watts. Caine is a thug with a heart, and the opportunity to succeed, if the streets will let him. With a father (Creator/SamuelLJackson) that dealt heroin and a mother (Khandi Alexander) who was addicted to it, he had no chance as a child, and went to live with his grandparents. After graduating high school, a feat that none of his friends pulled off, he had choices to make, and although his heart was in the right place, he was stuck in the wrong time. Watch as he struggles with car jackings, murdered friends, taking care of a single mother (Creator/JadaPinkett) and her son, and a question that burns in the back of his mind, asked by his grandfather: "Do you care whether you live or die?" That answer doesn't come until it's too late.

The story centers around a street life thug named Caine (Tyrin Turner) and his friend [[HairTriggerTemper O-Dog]] (Larenz Tate) living in the streets of Watts. Caine is a thug with a heart, and the opportunity to succeed, if the streets will let him. With a father (Creator/SamuelLJackson) that dealt heroin and a mother (Khandi Alexander) who was addicted to it, he had no chance as a child, and went to live with his grandparents. After graduating high school, a feat that none of his friends pulled off, he had choices to make, and although his heart was in the right place, he was stuck in the wrong time. Watch as he struggles with car jackings, murdered friends, taking care of a single mother (Creator/JadaPinkett) and her son, and a question that burns in the back of his mind, asked by his grandfather: "Do you care whether you live or die?" That answer doesn't come until it's too late.

''Menace II Society'' is a 1993 urban drama directed by the Creator/HughesBrothers (in their debut). Along with ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'', it is one of the defining films of the early '90s and helped popularize the urban crime drama.

** When the detective catches Caine changing his story during the interrogation and tells him “You know you fucked up now. You know that right?” The look on Caine’s face says it all that he fucked up!!

* ClusterFBomb: More so than in ''Boyz n the Hood'', with a whopping 305 uses of "fuck"--at the time, even outdoing ''{{Film/Goodfellas}}'' by 5 f-bombs. (''{{Film/Casino}}'' would later outdo that film by '''117''' f-bombs.)