There are a series of directors that carry such a weight to their filmography, that every time they release a project it becomes a major release nearly automatically. One of these directors is Spike Lee, who coming off his 2018 near-classic BlacKkKlansman, is finally back with Da 5 Bloods – being distributed on Netflix.
The film follows four African American vets who return to Vietnam under the purpose of finding the remains of their fallen friend, known as Stormin’ Norm (Chadwick Boseman). When in reality they also hold the intention to collect a box of gold bard they found and buried during the war. Where they expect this to be a quick and easy mission, they soon learn that the scars from the war are still fresh on both sides. And that it is going to take more effort and sacrifice than they originally expected.
Per usual for Spike Lee joints, where there is the more grounded plot of the physical journey these men take getting the gold, it is in the deeper ideas and themes the film truly shines. With a haunting relevance to the current global push in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Da 5 Bloods offers a fresh and relevant look. Not just as how black individuals are treated in modern-day America, but also throughout the history of the country. Going back to the founding of America, the country has been willing to give rights to the black community when it can benefit the white population, often in conflicts such as Vietnam, only to then turn its back once the conflict ends.
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This is something clearly on the mind of Da 5 Bloods, and provides a strong catalyst for the varying ideologies of the main characters. Which is one of the main reasons the character of Paul (Delroy Lindo) was able to work so well. On paper it seems like a character the audience is supposed to sympathize with and connect with. Being a Trump Supporter is a strange move for the audience who would normally be watching a Spike Lee joint. But in reality, Paul becomes the deepest character in the film.
Not only is the performance from Delroy Lindo a tour de force, deserving of all the attention it is getting, but the screenplay gives the time needed to properly explore his character and theology. This is done throughout masterful monologues and situations which naturally bring out the inner workings of his character.
The overall themes of war and the continued impact that it has – even when the shooting is officially over – is also thought-provoking and captivating in its own right. Where the third act of the film does end up getting a little too on the nose with directly saying this message, the first two-thirds of the film subtly shows this. By exposing the scars not just on these veterans but the world around them in Vietnam. From young men encountering those who could be responsible for their father’s death, to those who lived through the fight and now suffer from PTSD, when Da 5 Bloods is showing the pain instead of telling the audience about it, the film is impactful and stays with you long after the runtime ends.
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On a more grounded perspective, the film also builds an incredible amount of tension with bold choices that make the dangers these veterans face on their journey real. Da 5 Bloods is not a film that will hold back from killing a main character to make a point, or advance a narrative, which is refreshing to see.
Even if the action scenes continually suffered from rough directing and choreography and originally seem jarring. Considering the expectations of this being a drama with so much emotion at the center of the film. The movie does find its groove and wisely gives itself enough of a runtime to do so. Where this conflicting identity and the switching between time periods does cause the film to be quite messy, especially towards the middle of the film, the biggest thing it could have done to remedy this would to actually be longer.
Especially when it comes to the switching time periods, transporting the audience back to the Vietnam War, it feels like the film is only able to scratch the surface with the potential of this perspective. It easily could have used 10-20 more minutes at least to truly flush these scenes out. We see so much of the aftermath of this war and what the characters expected from it, which only could have been more imprinting if we spent more time with the characters when they were actually in the war, hearing more of their philosophy at that time. The more time the film has, the more it could have paced its plot out, which would have helped with the pacing and cluttered feeling that the middle of the film had.
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Also as expected from a Spike Lee Joint, the technical elements of the film are near masterful. The cinematography from Newton Thomas Sigel turns the scenes into works of art. While the film editing from Adam Gough is dynamic and fresh. Especially when it comes time for the film to work in real-life clips and photos. The film does it in a way that adds to the emotions and themes of the film, without being distracting from the actual plot or fictionalized story – in a very similar way to the editing by Barry Alexander Brown in BlacKkKlansman.
Da 5 Bloods might be a messier film than that, but ends up accomplishes greater things with a much more ambitious and large scale story that is more of a powerful reflection at our current state rather than a call to action. The more time that Da 5 Blood has to sit with you, the more it reveals itself and it is a film that will without a doubt grow even more powerful with age. Being available widely on Netflix, Da 5 Bloods is a near must watch for anyone and without a doubt is one of the best and most important films of the year so far despite its flaws.
