It's mostly great, although it probably tries to bite off more than it can chew. Then again, if you're a big Spike fan (as I am), this is kind of par for the course. Spike is going swing for the motherfucking fences, and a lot of his swings are going to connect better than most filmmakers working today can dream to do. Yes, he's going to miss sometimes. Yes, he may try to do too much in a movie, making stretches-- or whole movies-- muddled. But few filmmakers today have the power to deliver the way Spike does when he connects.

There were things I didn't like here, sure...the thing that stands out the most is the way the Big Scene In The Middle is projected from a mile away by how awkwardly a character is walking-- and the way his walk is shot, tbh. Not sure whether Spike *wanted* us to brace for what was about to happen or what, but I thought the power of that moment was botched. Other moments later were far more effective.

That said, the characters are beautifully developed and/or mythologized. Lindo obviously hits a grand slam here, as he always does every time he's on the screen. And Spike's injection of some complicated politics gives this film real weight in a way most movies don't really care to even try. Even if bits of it are corny-- and even if the images of actual real-life murders give me some pause in their inclusion here-- I don't care. The shit that works WORKS.