Editing Do the Right Thing (section)

===Critical reception===
[[File:Do the Right Thing race relations.webm|thumb|The scene of characters with different ethnicities each speaking a monologue featuring insults targeting another ethnicity through racial stereotypes in long close-up shots, emphasizes racial prejudice at the time and from Lee's viewpoint.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mediacommons.org/intransition/2014/12/12/revisiting-spike-lee-s-racial-slur-montage-ya-need-cool-shit-out|title=Revisiting Spike Lee’s “Racial Slur Montage”: Ya Need to Cool that Shit Out|access-date=February 27, 2025|date=2014|work=inTranslation, JCMS|last=Julien|first=Douglas}}</ref>]]
At the time of the film's release, both [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]] ranked the film as the best of 1989, and later each ranked it as one of the top 10 films of the decade ({{Numero|6}} for Siskel and {{Numero|4}} for Ebert).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=480 |title=10 Best Films of the 1980s (1989) - Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews |access-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523084330/https://siskelebert.org/?p=480 |url-status=live }}</ref> Siskel described the film as "a spiritual documentary that shows racial joy, hatred and confusion at every turn",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130689-story.html|title=A Serious 'Right Thing' For a Frivolous Summer|first=Gene|last=Siskel|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=June 30, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031171921/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130689-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while Ebert lauded it for coming "closer to reflecting the current state of race relations in America than any other movie of our time."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989|title=Do the Right Thing|first=Roger|last=Ebert|publisher=rogerebert.com|date=June 30, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019191019/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989|url-status=live}}</ref> Ebert later added the film to his list of ''[[The Great Movies]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies/ |title= The Great Movies |author= Roger Ebert |publisher= rogerebert.com |access-date= 29 April 2015 |archive-date= June 9, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230609033122/https://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies |url-status= live }}</ref> In a retrospective review in 2019, Kambole Campbell of the British magazine ''[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]]'' noted the film's lasting relevance and called it "a bold expression of love and frustration and care and anger that is so vivid and expressive it feels like it exists in the here and now."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lwlies.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989/|title=Do the Right Thing (1989)|first=Kabole|last=Campbell|publisher=[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]]|date=July 30, 2019|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019094449/https://lwlies.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' film critic [[Wesley Morris]] has called ''Do the Right Thing'' his favorite film.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theringer.com/2019/8/27/20834497/do-the-right-thing-with-sean-fennessey-and-wesley-morris|title='Do The Right Thing' With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris|last=Fennessey|first=Sean|date=2019-08-27|website=The Ringer|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02|archive-date=December 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202121338/https://www.theringer.com/2019/8/27/20834497/do-the-right-thing-with-sean-fennessey-and-wesley-morris|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some critics were less favorable in their reviews. [[Dave Kehr]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' gave the film two stars out of four; while calling the film "amiable", he resented it for employing [[white guilt]] and "seeing violence as a liberating symbol rather than a debasing reality."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130690-story.html|title='Do the Right Thing' at Least Takes a Stab at Complexity|first=Dave|last=Kehr|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=June 30, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=September 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907045045/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130690-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ralph Novak, writing for ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'', panned the film as incoherent and having an unclear message and no likable characters: "If Lee is saying that racism is profoundly painful, frustrating and confusing, no one will argue. But this film states the case without offering any insight."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-do-the-right-thing-vol-32-no-1/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Do the Right Thing|first=Ralph|last=Novak|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=July 3, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019084257/https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-do-the-right-thing-vol-32-no-1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a rating of 93%, based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Smart, vibrant and urgent without being didactic, ''Do the Right Thing'' is one of Spike Lee's most fully realized efforts – and one of the most important films of the 1980s."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/do_the_right_thing/ |title= Rotten Tomatoes 'Do the Right Thing' profile |website= Rotten Tomatoes |access-date= March 20, 2025 |archive-date= September 22, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220922145725/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/do_the_right_thing |url-status= live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 93 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", and placing it as the 68th-highest film of all-time on the site.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.metacritic.com/movie/do-the-right-thing |title= 'Do the Right Thing' Metacritic profile |website= Metacritic |access-date= 29 April 2015 |archive-date= March 16, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150316003847/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/do-the-right-thing |url-status= live }}</ref>