Coming off a well receptive original run from 411 BC Greece, Aristophanes' play lives on because of the universal themes it projects. Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) leads the women of Chicago from with holding sex from men until the gang wars stop and the men surrender their arms. They take over the National Guard Armory similar to the take over of the Acropolis in the original tale. Spike Lee maintained the idea of the divided chorus, but his version had more differences than similarities.In this film two gangs are at war: Trojans who wear orange lead by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes). They are fighting against the Spartans who wear purple and are lead by Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon). John Cusack plays a preacher/priest in the community. The dialogue is mostly poetic, much in a rap style. The issues go deep and is supportive of Black Lives Matter, painting everyone in South Carolina as racists. It is also anti-NRA and the politics of the film is the cause for both the love and the hate. Most of the politics is presented in a funeral eulogy delivered by John Cusack who wasn't poetic. Drugs are alluded to, but are not considered a major problem.Samuel L. Jackson plays Dolmedes who narrates the story and gives us the Greek background. Spike Lee has managed to find clothes that don't look good on Jackson as well as poetry he can't master. Lee also uses numerous Greek names in the film, including the gang names that were not in the original play. For instance Oedipus (Wade F. Wilson) describes an unhealthy relationship with his mother.Certainly worth a view for liberals. Conservatives will most likely be less enthusiastic.Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity. Adult themes and language throughout.

I respect Lee's passionate polemic, but as a movie, it just didn't work for me... It's far too stylised for my taste. It's hard to be affected by genuine emotion, when almost everything is presented in the manner of a community outreach pageant."Do the Right Thing" still crackles with a freshness and vibrancy - but Chi-Raq sadly plays from the conscience of an old man, falling back upon fables to make a difference... Sorry Spike!

I'm not from Chicago and have only been there once. But I would be mad if it was my hometown. My comments are directly about the movie and not about Chicago.This movie is simply awful. I just watched it on a DVD someone gave me and they can have it back. After about an hour, I simply gave up. Yes, I know it's based on an ancient Greek play, but the writing sucked and the delivery just bad. Most of the acting was so over the top, it played out like a cartoon. Why was Nick Cannon even in this and as the male star? Still scratching my head! The only saving grace is Teyonah Parris, although I hope this movie doesn't stop her from getting other roles. Yikes!

Chi-Raq begins promisingly, with a brutally poignant rap about the city of Chicago. It's a passionate summing up of what Chicago is to this rapper, an emotional stripping down of what it is to be attached to such a messed-up entity. There is the brilliant Samuel L. Jackson's ebonologue, some stats backing up the mess that Chicago has become, and a child is murdered. I'm hoping at this point that Spike Lee has decided enough already with the cinematic pretentiousness that polluted several of his other movies, and that I'm about to see a really good film. Unfortunately, a really good film never materializes. Though there is a lot to like about Chi-Raq, Spike Lee kept spoiling it for me. For example, I really like the rhyming couplet dialogue. But why does there have to be that schmaltzy piano music playing while people are talking. I loathe these cinematic manipulations that remind the audience that they are witnessing some deep, meaningful stuff. And why do people talk in rhyming couplets sometimes, but not other times? I think Spike Lee wasn't sure what he wanted to make, so he just threw everything into the pot, and hoped that it would taste great. My ultimate disappointment about Chi-Raq is with its ultimate message, that Love is the Answer. True solutions, and the core reason why there are horrendous problems in the first place, is not about loving thy neighbor; it's a systemic disease. Spike Lee seems to sort of get this for a while, but he has no time to excavate this hugely important issue because he has to stick to the rather ridiculous plot, has to explore female power and empowerment, and we all know that the true mark of a great film, historically, has been to include plenty of booty. There is a failure to dig deeper into why Chicago has become Chi-Raq, and I wonder if Spike Lee even has an understanding of that. His preaching about jobs means nothing since he fails to make any kind of intelligent expression about why there are so few opportunities to make an honest living in the first place. Overall, Chi-Raq is a mess that misses the mark, but it is entertaining, and the acting is superb, with a special nod to Wesley Snipes, who has a small role but is riveting in it.