RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Don't Be a Menace...
Don't Be a Menace...

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Don't Be a Menace... (1996)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
30 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:7

Rotten:16

Average Rating:4.6/10

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: This film is a parody of the recent "hood" movies made by African-American directors, in particular John Singleton's "Boyz 'N the Hood." The plot focuses on Ashtray, a do-gooder who comes to... This film is a parody of the recent "hood" movies made by African-American directors, in particular John Singleton's "Boyz 'N the Hood." The plot focuses on Ashtray, a do-gooder who comes to South Central L.A. to live with his father. Unfortunately, Dad turns out to be a poor role model, as he extols the virtues of unsafe sex and drunk driving. Ashtray's cousin Loc Dog is no better, with his hair-trigger temper and extensive weaponry (including a nuclear bomb). Ashtray manages to find romance with a pretty poet named Dashiki, but it turns out that she's a little too popular with the men in her neighborhood -- and not for her writing skills. Will Ashtray become disillusioned by what he's seen and experienced in South Central? [More]

Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tracey Cherelle Jones, Chris Spencer

Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tracey Cherelle Jones, Chris Spencer, Suli McCullough, Darrell Heath, Kim Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Vivica A. Fox, Omar Epps, Bernie Mac, LaWanda Page, Yvette Wilson, Paula Jai Parker

Director: Paris Barclay

Director: Paris Barclay
Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Eric L. Gold
Screenwriter: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Don't Be a Menace...

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

[A] pleasant hour and a half.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
10/21/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

If you really want to appreciate this film, go see all the hood movies from the 90s - good and bad.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
09/22/05
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Full of very obvious spoofery, and funnier in concept than in execution.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/05/08
Godfrey Cheshire
Godfrey Cheshire
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The thin plot is merely the frame for gags, and there are more a few good ones here.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
12/28/04
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Too many gags fall flat, or are cheap and sleazy instead of clever and witty.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

A free-for-all comic spoof that brings the 'hood' genre of Hollywood films full circle.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Outrageous is the key word here. In many successful scenes, the Wayans deftly play on our assumptions and cliches.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Esther Iverem
Esther Iverem
Washington Post

Things might be bad, the movie suggests, but they're not so bad you can't laugh.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

There are zero laughs in this stupid, stupid movie.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/23/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

If I see one more movie featuring that current favorite of obnoxious movie stereotypes -- the pair of abrasive Asian convenience store owners -- I'm not going to even going to think twice before getting up and leaving the theatre.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joey O'Bryan
Joey O'Bryan
Austin Chronicle

...the Wayans use a sledgehammer to drive in a thumbtack.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
09/17/05
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

The gags -- like most of the Wayanses' humor -- range from astute satire to lowest-common-denominator yucks.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barry Walters
Barry Walters
San Francisco Examiner

There's maybe three or four half-decent chuckles to be found in this otherwise interminable 90-minute mega-chore.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
09/16/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

Rude, crude and outrageous.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Susan Wloszczyna
Susan Wloszczyna
USA Today

Strangely sour and ultimately wearisome.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/05/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/01/00
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinematter | comment Comment
01/01/00
Madeleine Williams
Madeleine Williams
Cinematter
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine

One of the funniest movies of all time

comment Comment
02/19/03
Kevin Fiddler
Kevin Fiddler
Henderson Home News (Henderson, NV)

Laugh yourself stupid....Wayans classic!

comment Comment
10/11/04
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Don't Be a Menace...

July 13, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Dupree" Misfires; "Little Man" Is Short On Laughs
This week at the movies, we've got some unwanted houseguests, in the guise of a guy with a bad case of arrested development ("You, Me and Dupree," starring Owen... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
67% 67% Public Enemies
75% 75% Julie & Julia
95% 95% The Cove
85% 85% World's Greatest Dad

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
21
  • Peter Jackson Talks Hobbit, LotR Blu-ray Source: Collider.com
18
  • Woman Jailed for Filming New Moon Screening Source: Chicago Sun-Times
16
  • McG Has Plans for Fifth and Sixth Terminator Movies Source: Gizmodo
192
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
82
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
56
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
28
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Avatar's Sam Worthington
5
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Don't Be a Menace... at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Don't Be a Menace... at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.