MisterGotrocks Reviews

Ghetto Dawg 2 (2005)

One word: awesome.

[10/10 · 7 December 2005]

Hands-down the best ghetto movie I've seen in a long time. I didn't have many expectations, given the first movie, but it blew me away. Rent it, pirate it, do what you've got to do to get this movie in your player. The acting is what really carries it away -- Paris Campbell is fantastic, in particular -- I was impressed with just about everyone on screen. The plot is plausible and keeps up a good pace. The dogfights are the only thing that lacked realism for me, as you can pretty much tell that the blood is fake. That being said, the gun play and violence are shockingly realistic. The whole thing is rounded out by a streak of corny humor that somehow works... the movie moves back and forth between the grippingly dramatic and the ridiculously silly, and it doesn't skip a beat. Amazing, really. I can't recommend this one highly enough.

Sucker Punch (2003)

Raw, Brutal, & Hilarious

[7/10 · 5 January 2005]

For a "gansta" genre film, this was so much more enjoyable than the usual empty fare. This movie is alternately shocking and goofy, the almost cartoony humor setting you up again and again for a jab to the nose of brutality. The characters aren't quite realistic and not quite archetypal, either, giving the film the feeling of a fable. The story of Mike's attempt to redeem himself from a life of depravity was compelling, to me, and although the dialog was at times pretty rough around the edges, Paris Campbell deftly handles the material. His performance carries the film, to be sure, with touches of subtlety that make him sympathetic and human. The Christ imagery was inventive, and suggested to me that perhaps the whole film was actually an analogy for his inner struggle. The use of color really added to the sense of watching a graphic novel or comic book, and the Beatnuts' soundtrack was electric, driving the energy of the film forward from scene to scene and accenting both the fun and the sharp edges of the movie. All in all, I was impressed by Sucker Punch, even if it is rough around the edges in several places.