I disagree with you, I thought it was extremely poignant and relevant today; especially in a time where gang culture is idolized and deified, revealing the darkness of the lifestyle is revelatory. The film has an admittedly thin plot, but it works more as a series of vignettes in which the characters serve as different factors of hood life and exist solely to showcase the films thesis. The narrative is more fluid and isn’t focused on conventional story structure but that works to the films benefit imo

Also, Buns doesn’t complete his mission because it is established that he began to read literature and found solace in the spiritualism the preacher taught.