I don't want to be so simple as to say that this movie had no point or message at all, but I will say that they failed to make a better point.
The main character, Michael aka Youngblood (Bryan O'Dell), is a hard-headed high schooler itching to get into trouble. He gets hooked up with an L.A. street gang called the Kingsmen and that was all the brotherhood of troublemakers he needed.
Either because they were stupid or reckless, the Kingsmen move up from gang fights and other petty crimes to jackin' drug dealers. Drug dealers usually aren't in business for or by themselves. They have suppliers who have suppliers on up the food chain and you better believe that someone is going to be protecting the merchandise.
I thought the movie was trying to drive home the message of the futility of street gangs, but it didn't effectively do that. I thought it would drive home the message of the inanity of getting in over your head criminally, and it only somewhat did that as well.
Ultimately, I think this movie languished somewhere in the middle of praising gang life and coming out hard against it. It never came out too strong on either point. Had this movie drove home a harder and more sobering message I think it would have been better.
