Divorced teacher Rick Latimer (Jim Belushi) gets into a bar fight with his ex-wife's boyfriend and arrested. His punishment promotion is the new principal job at the roughest school. Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.) is security and Hilary Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) is a caring teacher. He has to battle student gang leader Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) and get single mom Treena Lester (Kelly Jo Minter) to return to school.This is a white savior movie. It tries to be serious and tough. The kids are all at least twenty-somethings. It's violent but it never feels real. It's an unreal reality. Belushi is trying to do serious acting with limited success. He doesn't have it for this role. The movie gives an excuse for the absent of police but it would serve it better to have a few cops. There is no uplift nor any tension.

This is a pretty good '80s vehicle for James Belushi, who gets to show off both comedic and dramatic chops as Rick Latimer, a teacher who, in a drunken state one night, flies into a rage upon seeing his ex-wife with another man (her attorney, no less). After beating the hell out of the mans' car with a baseball bat, his superiors decide to "reward" him with a principal gig. The catch is that the gig is at the city's most crime ridden inner city high school. Now, Latimer may have his faults, but being a more or less good guy he's incensed at what he sees and decides that he's going to clean up the school, no matter what. Offering some assistance is the schools' head of security, Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.). Rick takes special interest in students such as young mother Treena (Kelly Jo Minter) and the sincere Arturo (Jacob Vargas), who's only now learning to read. Meanwhile, the biggest piece of criminal scum at the place, Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) tries to scare off Rick, but Rick won't have any of it, and the stage will be set for a final showdown at some point. "The Principal" does score high marks for good intentions, even as it recalls earlier films such as "The Blackboard Jungle" and "Class of 1984" (other films in this genre, of course, include "Stand and Deliver", "Lean On Me", and "Dangerous Minds"). It's reasonably absorbing and tells a decent story, which was written by Frank Deese, a real life teacher who also plays a small role in the movie. What makes it work as well as it does are the variety of entertaining characters, both likable and unlikable. Belushi is in fine form and does seem to be improvising at some points. Gossett Jr. is solid as a rock and the sexy Rae Dawn Chong has the role of impassioned teacher Hilary Orozco. Wright is completely convincing as the antagonist, largely because he mostly underplays the part. Playing other students are Esai Morales as the poetic Raymi Rojas, J.J. Cohen as scuzzy white creep White Zac, and the engaging Troy Winbush as "Baby" Emile, the gang member who has a change of heart. Director Christopher Cain also creates some very effective suspense in the ultimate confrontation between principal and criminal. Best of all, while there is some serious subject matter in the material, Cain and company never get heavy handed in the attempt to create some sort of "message movie", and mix the exploitative ingredients with the serious ones to make an entertaining package in general. By the end, you can't help but cheer the principal on. Seven out of 10.

Nothing new under sun, as "The Principal" could be seen as a more aggressively modern "Blackboard Jungle" inspiration (which it could possibly have done the same for "Dangerous Minds") amongst a urban ghetto backdrop. You could also say its like "Class of 1984", only less trashier and explicit with the action and cleaning out. John Belushi (an effectively imposing turn balancing the dry humour with a serious side) stars as a teacher Rick Latimer who's life is falling apart and an brutal act involving his ex-wife and new lover, sees him being offered (though there's no real choice to it) a new position as principal at a school that's over-run by drugs, violence and gangs who don't have education on their minds. So he goes about making changes, but a certain drug dealer Victor Duncan (a superbly lethal Michael Wright) sees this as a threat and goes on to make it hell. But Latimer doesn't cave in and soon finds an ally in janitor Jake Phillips (a tough performance by Lou Gossett Jr.) The formulaic story (which at times can get preachy) seems to be fuelled by such topics as crime, racism and talent untapped in what Belushi's strong-minded character transforms, as he might be in over his head however his got nothing to lose. He takes it on the chin, and tries to build upon the foundation than letting it slide… despite the scoffing and violence targeted at him. Director Christopher Cain does a polished job with his forward handling, but never letting it loose focus on the raw and brutal side of things. Crisp, but explosively high octane. Surprisingly it was more intense and action-oriented than I was expecting. The encounters involving Latimer and Victor coming to blows in what was a power tussle for control and dominance was always gripping in the scheme of things. Performances are well-guided with some other familiar faces in Rae Dawn Chong, Esai Morales and Jacob Vargas. Also throughout we get some drowning 80s tunes spliced throughout to evoke spirit and grit.

this movie is about a man who ends up being principal of one of the worst schools in the country.the school is pretty much run by a drug lord/gang banger and his cronies.the teachers have given up hope on the kids and stopped teaching them.Rick Latimer (James Belushi)is Latimer,who finds himself in over his head,but won't quit.this is more of an action movie than an inspirational one.it's sorta like The Substitute and other similar movies.i don't think there's any real deep message here.and maybe that wasn't the intent of the filmmakers.maybe they just set out to making an entertaining action movie.if so,they succeeded.i found it entertaining.for me,The Principal is a 7/10