From reading the ratings and the headlines for this film, you would think that this was Spike Lee's worst film to date. Personally, I don't think so.
What the film suffers from is two things:
1) it touches on many topics at one time. The violence in Chicago and the desperate need for it to cease, sexuality, male/female and their gender roles in society, among other things. On top of all that it teeters on being serious, comedic and a musical all at the same time. Having all these attributes can sometimes result in a muddled mess of a film with the overall message being lost.
2) it bears the name "chi-raq" which already characterizes it as a serious film. It wouldn't receive half of the criticism if it didn't have the violence in Chicago as its premise. Yes, it is based off of the Greek comedy "Lysistrata", but had it removed such a heavy topic from it's storyline it may have ended up as Spike Lee's best. The film makes up for using "chiraq" by being heavy-handed with the message of peace and stopping the violence. But for the most part plays up the Greek comedy.
All in all, i don't feel that this was his worst. I understand the anger that many Chicagoans feel about the film. Again, they were expecting a serious film about a serious issue. Lee made a daring leap toward an artistic interpretation of Chicago violence, but only ended up drawing more ire than awe.
What the film suffers from is two things:
1) it touches on many topics at one time. The violence in Chicago and the desperate need for it to cease, sexuality, male/female and their gender roles in society, among other things. On top of all that it teeters on being serious, comedic and a musical all at the same time. Having all these attributes can sometimes result in a muddled mess of a film with the overall message being lost.
2) it bears the name "chi-raq" which already characterizes it as a serious film. It wouldn't receive half of the criticism if it didn't have the violence in Chicago as its premise. Yes, it is based off of the Greek comedy "Lysistrata", but had it removed such a heavy topic from it's storyline it may have ended up as Spike Lee's best. The film makes up for using "chiraq" by being heavy-handed with the message of peace and stopping the violence. But for the most part plays up the Greek comedy.
All in all, i don't feel that this was his worst. I understand the anger that many Chicagoans feel about the film. Again, they were expecting a serious film about a serious issue. Lee made a daring leap toward an artistic interpretation of Chicago violence, but only ended up drawing more ire than awe.