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Chi-Raq
2016
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Certified Fresh
$ 2 Million
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Chi-Raq
Positive Reviews
88
Negative reviews
18
Average Rating
3.6
/5
exciting
hilarious
powerful
original
literal
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Positive
Negative
3.0
It might be a patience testing fumble, but its one that was worth making.
Av Club
3.0
The idea of Chi Raq receiving a Best Picture nomination is so unfathomable as to be a fantasy.But what about Lee and Willmotts dense, gorgeously woven ..
EW
5.0
The job of a movie like this one is to stimulate arguments and hook itself into the viewers imagination, and Chi Raq accomplishes that job brilliantly ..
Rogerebert
5.0
Uneven as storytelling, scattershot as satire, and capped by an emotional climax that feels too rigged to resonate, Lees latest joint is best apprecia ..
Variety
2.0
Its a neat idea, delivered with a fly swagger.But this overlong picture is already repetitive and unfocused by the second act; by the third, it has ma ..
The Guardian
5.0
But it is never boring.It is earnest and heartfelt and, at times, funny and very, very, very sexy.
The Guardian
4.4
That Chi Raqs Altmanesque narrative scope never succumbs to its many plot digressions is testament to how assured its core components are.
4.4
Unleashed here, Willmots sensibility veers daringly, if occasionally unsteadily, between the stirring and the silly.
3.5
Though it sometimes recalls the irresistibly energetic, genre bending feel of Lees best films Do The Right Thing in particular it lacks the assurance ..
Screen Daily
3.5
We havent had an angry Spike Lee joint in a while.Lees spent more than a decade making great (The Inside Man) to middling (Oldboy) popcorn flicks and ..
Collider
4.5
Now, as enraging as Chi Raq is and as exciting as it is to see Lee flex various narrative techniquesthis film is part play, part musical, part text me ..
Collider
5.0
Is it a good month in America for an antigun movie or what.Bitches, its always a good month in America for an antigun movie.
Vulture
4.0
Some of the actors are better at delivering it than others, but overall it bestows the film with a kind of singular modern status and appeal, just as ..
The Hollywood Reporter
3.5
Chi Raq constantly shifts tones from comedy to drama and back again, while most of its dialogue is delivered in rhyming couplets.
5.0
Mr. Lee doesnt go that far, alas, but he does go cinematically all out with exuberant set pieces, musical numbers, bursts of phantasmagoric color, oce ..
The New York Times
3.1
Its an exciting concept topped off with dialogue replete with rap verse but Lee overplays his hand with broad attempts at comedy, and the satire loses ..
San Francisco Chronicle
3.5
Chi Raq shies away from showing the true brutality and loses the opportunity to be effectively emotionally visceral.
The Young Folks
4.0
The result is the most creatively exciting Lee has been in a decade.
3.0
At its worst, its preaching to the choir literally.And its a sermon weve heard before.
Ny Daily News
3.8
Do we simply lack the audiences to make it worthwhile for American companies to care
The Globe And Mail
3.1
In your face polemic, with nowhere to go once the point has been made. Repeatedly.
Philly
2.5
Spike Lee never had a chance.Thats been clear since April, when the bile burst forth in response to the title of his new movie: Chi Raq.
Chicago Reader
3.1
Its a film of pain and rage, equally bolstered and undermined by its humor and sermonizing.
Mark Reviews Movies
2.0
The surprise is how modern the original story is in its fantasy of an ideal world where all the babies are safe.
2.0
The surprise is how modern the original story is in its fantasy of an ideal world where all the babies are safe.
4.4
Lee knows when its time to preach and when its time to entertain.
Usa Today
3.0
Lees daring with form is let down by a simplicity in content, but its like nothing else at the cinema.
The Times
3.0
There are some good acting performances by Nick Cannon (who also sings a couple of songs) Jennifer Hudson (who also sings a song on the soundtrack) an ..
Lariat
2.0
Whether it works or not (and it mostly does), this creative choice gives the film a rhythmic energy and an even greater sense of theatricality, reinfo ..
Eric Ds Nider
2.0
In its lesser moments, though, the film plays like a bad student revue.
Independent
3.1
Heres Spike Lee at his ballsiest.Who else would take Aristophanes Lysistrata, set in ancient Greece, and prop it up in present day Englewood, Chicago, ..
Rolling Stone
4.0
One way to understand the form of Walther Ruttmanns Berlin, Symphony of a Great City, is to see it as producing states of flow that reinforce a flat o ..
Pop Matters
5.0
Its a mad combination that fittingly addresses a world of madness.
The Wrap
2.5
The moments of gonzo farce and incendiary satire work well, but Chi Raq cant avoid politically driven melodrama and lengthy soapboxing.
News Day
5.0
References to the Charleston and Sandy Hook massacres, Ben Carson, and the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Sandra Bland give the film a po ..
Film Journal
3.8
Terence Blanchard again provides Lee with a heartbreaking score, and Matthew Libatiques visuals pop.Its got seriousness and a hotbed of styles, but mo ..
New York Post
3.5
But passion is something lacking too often in overly calculated movies, with too much concern placed on not offending anyone.
Az Central
5.0
Its a teeming repository of ideaby turns somber and profane, whimsical and hectoring, inspired and inexplicable.
Npr
4.4
Lee creates a good yarn with plenty of excitement and ribald laughs.
Star Tribune
3.8
Its not always worth it: a bizarre takedown of a racist armouries commander is just weird.
Toronto Star
3.0
Good but not great.In The Edge Of Seventeen Hailee Steinfeld (above) lifts this likeable offering towards the higher slopes of the high school, rite o ..
Daily Mail
5.0
We dont see enough of Chi Raqs inner life for me to fairly compare him to someone like Dostoevskys Raskolnikov, but in all honestly Cannon made me fee ..
Salon
3.5
Its frank, invigorating, emotional, sadand its the films manifesto laid bare.
Slate
4.0
Packed full of heady ideas, this loud and proud proclamation is a vigorous and provocative piece of work.
Flim List
3.5
Not every actor pulls it off but it works very effectively to connect two worlds, and at its best, its beautiful.
Eye For Film
4.0
If you dont understand them, however, youll have a much better time.The movie is made for you.
New Yorker
5.0
This is a deeply serious, biting picture that also has joy in its heart.
Time
2.0
Like Italys Fellini or Japans Ozu, Lees cinematic universe is very personal, a mix of political statements and provocations, surreal imagery and momen ..
Boston Herald
3.0
Chi Raq is a bawdy, angry cry from the heart that only works in fits and starts but there are times when it really hits the mark, especially when addr ..
Express
2.0
While the film occasionally teeters on overly preachy rhetoric, the message is never anything but powerful.
The Film Stage
3.1
Many more characters and a dozen different styles jostle for screen time in a crowded movie.
Chicago Tribune
5.0
Chi Raq is vintage Spike Lee messy, funny, rude, polemical, epic, exuberant, unmissable.
Boston Globe
5.0
And often its unexpectedly hilarious.Chi Raq is furious and funny and deadly serious, a raw, searing satire that swells into a fantasy about how we mi ..
Flickfilosopher
4.0
A gorgeous, gorgeous thing that proves anger sometimes has the best tunes.
The Irish Times
3.0
And while its ambition does show a director still aspiring for great heights, its patchy execution only partly restores the faith.
Blogs Indie Wire
2.0
But Chi Raq, like so many Lee joints, is a jumble of ideas and approaches that clash and fall flat more often than they connect.
Las Vegas Weekly
2.0
Stop thinkin this Craziness is Fun!!!.Your Women understand Life is more than polishin your Knobs.
Standard
2.0
Its a wild concept; unfortunately the over the top execution is also wildly uneven.
Detroit News
5.0
When Lee cooks up a stew this heady, one best recognize...the right film at the right time, Lees most creatively fertile and socially immediate narrat ..
Groucho Reviews
4.5
Viscerally and intellectually engaging, it projects dramatic powerful in a way only Malcolm X and Do the Right Thing can match.Is it angry
Forbes
3.0
Solemnity is key, and Chi Raq braves the waters, but the films stroke of genius is its ludicrous bent. The film swivels, and challenges us to not sit ..
Consequence Of Sound
4.0
Its the best movie Lee has made in ages, possibly since 2002s 25th Hour (which is still the best post 9/11 movie), and it demands that you pay attenti ..
Vox
4.0
What transpires is a groundbreaking, barbed production that is unlike anything youll have ever seen before, and while undoubtedly this will split opin ..
Hey U Guys
2.0
Those who dismiss Lee as a strident polemicist should take another look: Chi Raq makes its points with a sharp wit and downright goofy humor.
Oregon Live
5.0
This is a movie that manages to be both brash and earnest, hilarious and deadly serious, bluntly rhetorical and poetic at the same time.
Now Toronto
2.0
Forgive Chi Raq its tonal shifts between comedy and tragedy, which can feel like a ride in a parabolic rocket.
La Weekly
4.0
THE VERDICT: Sully is a skilfully made reconstruction of a recent real life feat of heroic professionalism.But narrative tension is sorely lacking.
Games Radar
2.5
Ultimately, Chi Raq depicts the urban black plight with unerring accuracy and energy, but offers no direction home, nor indeed pretends to, being a mu ..
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
3.8
Sometimes it lurches.But theres no escaping that this is a film with something a big something on its mind and a righteous desire to change the world.
Kansas City
3.0
CLEVELAND, Ohio Urgent messages on title cards bookend Spike Lees exuberant political satire, Chi raq..At the end of the first sequence the screen sho ..
Cleve Land
5.0
The literal and metaphorical journey is predictable but fun, funny and beautiful.
Independent Ie
4.0
Parris, Bassett, and Canon all give powerful performances that sell the whimsy and the bigger message behind it.
Film Racket
4.4
Parris negotiates both the angry tragedy of the film and its heightened comedy equally well; this should be a star making performance.
Larsen On Film
3.5
Chi Raq is raucous and transgressive, but most of all, its a lament. And lament is exactly what we you and I need to learn: right now, this year, this ..
Christianity Today
2.0
Sisters are doing it for themselves: Teyonah Parris as Lysistrata This is an emergency.
The Arts Desk
1.5
Ultimately, this is neither tragedy nor farce.Anybody know the Greek word for boredom
Straight
2.0
Lee makes a modest effort to connect the scripts sexual dynamics to its politics Lysistrata and company are all about challenging the patriarchy but i ..
Cinemix Tape
5.0
It manages to seem typical Spike messy and focused in its fury and its construction.
Metro New York
5.0
There are many moments when this excess isnt so benign, which leads me to say something that should never be taken for granted: satire doesnt exist in ..
Film Comment
4.0
Its both a great monologue (Cusack delivers it with passion and gusto) and a great manifesto a reminder that its downright shocking to see a contempor ..
Flavor Wire
4.4
Subtlety and consistency have never ranked high on Spike Lees How To Do list.
Daily Herald
4.0
Lees take on American gun violence can be accused of many things, but a lack of passion isnt one of them.
The Skinny
4.0
Such things feel a little hokey, but where the film succeeds in a big way aside from casting Hanks and Eckhart is the recreation of the emergency land ..
Scots Man
4.5
Thats the power of satire to veil real frustration under a palatable disguise, and make anger entertaining without losing any of its force.
The Verge
4.0
Its a wildly vibrant social pronouncement that co opts its narrative inspiration improbably, but fittingly, from the 4th century comedy Lysistrata.
The Daily Beast
5.0
Chi Raq is hilarious, easily one of the funniest films Spike has ever made.
Movie Mezzanine
2.0
Spike Lee delivers an angry blast of hip hop agitprop with Chi Raq, a flashy but flaky updating of Aristophanes 2,400 year old Greek comedy Lysistrata ..
What So
5.0
It has the feel of a movie made by a young man, new to the craft and consumed by a mad joy in the sheer act of filmmaking.
Seattle Times
2.5
The bawdy, revue style humour is only fitfully funny, but it is amusing to see city officials trying to weaken the womens resolve by blasting out sult ..
New States Man
1.0
Instead of all the gleeful trash talk honoring Foxx and Moore, there might have been more power in skin prickling rhetoric that points not fingers but ..
New City Film
4.0
Spike Lees latest Joint the anti gun n gangs satire Chi Raq is never subtle, always strident and absolutely necessary.You may feel uncomfortable watch ..
Toronto Sun
3.5
Its something of a miracle that this uneven film works as well as it does.
Fw Weekly
2.5
Some shotsa Jordan statue; a coffin slid into a hearse; a subway train zooming alongseem slick and indulgent.
Vue Weekly
2.5
The film pummels us with so many scenes of mourning residents pacifists might take up arms just to make it stop.
Hollywood Into To
1.5
What Aristophanes left to interpretation using ambiguity and metaphor, Lee beats down our throats, which sucks any fun right out of the film.
Sf Weekly
3.5
The end result is a film that undoubtedly feels lacking as a political or social commentary but still manages to delight with its sense of creativity ..
Film Ireland
3.5
It features jarring shifts in tone and temperament.It stridently proclaims its message throughout, at times like a revival meeting seeking a call back ..
Stream On Demand At Home
2.5
So put it instead in a bonkers tragicomic lecture about deadly penis extensions.A riot.
Spectator
2.5
But that should come as no surprise.In other words, Lee is really letting it rip here.
Heral
3.8
Chi Raqs biggest strength is its performances.The actors hold Lees vision together through sheer force of will.
Free Beacon
3.8
As the film bears down to the end, it loses some momentum; it starts to feel too long, the comedy peters out, the inspired linguistic gymnastics lose ..
MLive.com
3.8
In fact, the movie is at its most irresistible when it embraces the glorious fun of words.
Commercial Appeal
3.5
Sign up for Take Action Now and well send you three actions every Tuesday.Thank you for signing up.
The Nation
2.5
And its this energy that makes it feel like Lees film will break the banks of a nodding, agreeable audience and find its way to the people who need to ..
The Popcorn Junkie
3.0
Its when it tries to hit the solid notes of drama that this elevated railcar of concept starts to shudder.
Ex Press
3.5
Chi Raq isnt nearly as polished or cohesive as his early period works...but its delivered with a sense of fervor and immediacy that hasnt been felt fr ..
All Movie
3.8
While Chi Raq may be broad, scattershot and brazenly un subtle, its blunt force feels bracing.
City Weekly
3.8
Its incredibly ambitious, pretty weird and very much the work of Lee, a filmmaker long interested in fractured communities and sexual dynamics but nev ..
Trib
3.8
A provocative mash up of classical tragedy, rap music, minstrel show, and musical theater, the film is an in your face explosion of anger and vitality ..
Good Times
4.0
Spike Gets His Groove Back: Chi Raq By Elias Savada.I was ready to give up on Spike Lee after suffering through Red Hook Summer, his 2012 scattershot ..
Film International
3.1
Its almost impossible to get a movie that is trying to say something important into a multiplex in this day and age, so well see if a movie thats a co ..
Sandiego Union Tribune
3.5
A wild eyed, bumpily syncopated symphony in purple and gold, Chi Raq is ragged and binary, for sure.It also is colorful in every way that our culture ..
Signature Reads
3.5
Chi Raq s goofy satirical humor keeps it feeling fresh and smart.
Sojo
3.0
It was one of a number of moments in Chi Raq that brought me to tears.One of a number.
Altfg
3.5
No film can succeed in satisfying a tangle of expectations as rich as those facing this film, but the wonder of Chi Raq, what makes it a remarkable fi ..
Los Angeles Review of Book ..
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