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Chi-Raq (2015) is a musical crime comedy drama movie co-written and directed by Spike Lee and it tells the story of a group of women trying to stop gang violence prevalent in their neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago. This movie was a first time watch for me and it was pretty good.

Positives for Chi-Raq (2015): This movie goes back to basic for Spike Lee as he tells a great story of a community of people trying to stand up against the evil threat of the movies. I really enjoyed the women empowerment side of the story where the women are giving up sex with their men just to protect their friends and families. You have an excellent ensemble cast of actors here with Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Teyonah Parris, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. Spike Lee is able to take his social commentary here and turn sit into genuine character growth unlike a lot of other filmmakers with their movies. And finally, the movie does a great job at taking some of the musical numbers and putting them into the story very well.

Negatives for Chi-Raq (2015): The musical numbers are not the best I've seen in any movie especially musical movies. The movie leans too heavily on the messages and it comes off as a little pretentious on the part of the characters. And finally, the movie is a bit too long for the story being told and it could've been much shorter.

Overall, Chi-Raq (2015) is a good Spike Lee movie even if it is one of the weaker directorial efforts from the man, but I would recommend this movie to fans of Spike Lee.

The Toxic Avenger (2025) is the fifth entry in the Toxic Avenger franchise that started off with the 1984 original from Troma Entertainment. This is a movie that I have been looking forward for a while especially since I have watched the four movies prior to this new entry years ago and I wanted to give this new movie a chance. Well I just got done watching the movie a couple of minutes ago and it was insanely entertaining and awesome.

Positives for The Toxic Avenger (2025): I have to give credit to the filmmakers for actually being able to take the insane taboo nature of the four movies prior to this one and still keep enough of it in this new movie. While the movie is a little bit more tamer, you can tell the filmmakers made this movie with a lot of passion and love for those four movies. You have an awesome ensemble cast with Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon who are all fully aware of what movie they're in and they are having fun with the insanity. Peter Dinklage is excellent as the title character and he is given a very relatable and human story with his stepson played by Jacob Tremblay that I have seen many times and it is still manages to be effective given what is happening in the story. Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood are both having the time of their lives as the villains and they are just eating up the scenery whenever they're on screen. You also have this story of Dinklage and Paige trying to take down an evil corporation in glorious and gory fashion. The practical and make-up effects for the Toxic Avenger and the various other beings look amazing and the same can be said for the kills and gore with a couple of moments of CGI that thankfully don't take me out of the movie. The action sequences are so insane and entertaining with the violence and it manages to be taboo enough to still be safe for modern movie audiences to watch. And finally, the taboo humor is awesome and gross with the imagery and it was freaking hilarious.

Mixed for The Toxic Avenger (2025): The taboo scenes aren't going to work for everyone because of how tamed they are for hardcore fans or will be offensive to modern audiences.

Overall, The Toxic Avenger (2025) is an insanely phenomenal modern update to this franchise that does enough to please almost everyone whether or not you're a fan of the Toxic Avenger or Troma and it is easily one of my favorite movies of 2025.

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) is a horror movie co-written and directed by Spike Lee and it was a steaming pile of donkey crap.

Positives for Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014): The acting from Zaraah Abrahams, Stephen Tyrone Williams, Rami Malek and Elvis Nolasco is really good. The movie does look nice for the most part. That's all I've got to say for the positives.

Negatives for Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014): This movie is ungodly boring and almost nothing happens for nearly 2 hours. The story is just a series of events happening in chronological order and none of them mean anything. The characters are just floating pieces of paper taking the form of human beings. And finally, the movie is barely even scary and fails to justify being a horror movie.

Overall, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) is a boring and nonsensical excuse of a horror movie and the worst movie in Spike Lee's filmography.