Spike Lee is no stranger when making controversial comments on practically anything, especially politics. Nevertheless, Spike Lee always knows how to infuse his heavy handedness on politics in a very affective way, whether you like it or not. He knows how to tell the audiences how he particularly feels on something and sometimes it’s bold but often it come across as too much. His most recent feature, BlackKklansman, which is still a great movie, but kind of left certain audiences with those final minutes, when it was basically Spike Lee grabbing his paint brush and saying “Let me show you what I really think of politics.” BlackKklansman is still, however, a great movie on its own terms, despite having an ending that either sucked you in or pulled you out. Da 5 Bloods, clearly has Lee’s signature riddled all over, but the difference with Da 5 Bloods and BlackKklansman is that Da 5 Bloods doesn’t feel as heavy handed or beaten down as BlackKklansman may have felt towards the end. Da 5 Bloods is Spike Lee’s best film in years, and it wonderfully showcases a story about the power of friendship and seeking forgiveness. Da 5 Bloods is a resounding, tragic and heartbreaking tale that succeeds in capturing the terrible repercussions of war and suggesting the good things that we can reflect from our own self interests.
Set in the current time, Da 5 Bloods focuses on four African American Vietnam veterans, who travel back to Vietnam in hopes to search for the remains of their fallen leader and the seeking of buried treasure somewhere deep in the woods. Along their journey, the four men struggle with some past internal conflicts, while also being attacked by the remaining ravages of the Vietnam War.
Having not seen one single frame Da 5 Bloods prior to it’s release on Netflix, I had no clue what the movie was even remotely about. Only being exposed to the vibrant and unique poster for the movie, the only knowledge I had was that Spike Lee had a new movie coming out. It’s hard to imagine the last time I saw a movie where I didn’t see any of the trailer for it. In today’s culture, that’s an almost impossible thing to achieve, but I managed to pull it off with Da 5 Bloods. Now, take aside with what our country is experiencing for just a moment, because it’s hard to not think about it when you’re watching a movie like Da 5 Bloods, but in the case for Da 5 Bloods, it completely transfixes you from the beginning of the movie with the introduction of these four characters, Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis) and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). At heart of Da 5 Bloods is the wonderfully orchestrated chemistry that these four actors share on screen. While Lee is able to compose some intense and terrific action scenes with these guys, he’s able to pull it back to the great and smaller character moments. Heck, you could watch these guys sit at a bar with a couple drinks juts talking and it would still be riveting as the action was. Lee focused on the growth of character in this movie and its profoundly resonating.
The performance that should be recognized from all cylinders is the performance from Delroy Lindo. All four of these guys are incredible, but Lindo is really the one that completely superseded any expectation I may or may not have had prior to watching this movie. Lindo has popped up in other Spike Lee films in the past (Malcolm X, Crooklyn and Clockers), but Lindo show’s so much vulnerability and weight to the character of Paul, that he ultimately is the one piece of the puzzle that holds these four men together, and what makes the progression of the story more investing for the entire 2 and a half hours. Academy, don’t over look this performance, and for god sakes, if you’e going to nominate him, make sure it’s for Best Actor.
One aspect of Da 5 Bloods that’s very impressive are the certain filmmaking styles and techniques that Spike Lee was going for. Though set in the modern time, we could often cut back to the late 1960s when these four men were at war in Vietnam, but what Lee was able to do was switch the aspect ratio, thereby making us feel as if were watching actual footage that was shot during that place of history. Now, most casual movie fans probably won’t be able to pick up on something like that, nevertheless, it was an organic and beautiful way for Spike Lee to recapture history, but also recapturing how movies were made back during that time.
Spike Lee is also teaming up with, once again, with American jazz trumpeter and composer, Terence Blanchard. Having previously collaborated on BlackKklansman, which has a great music accompanying it, Blanchard’s score for Da 5 Bloods might be his best score for his work to date, and it speaks volumes too much recognition this man truly deserves. He’s worked on another Spike Lee movies before, but with BlackKklansman and now Da 5 Bloods, it’s really showcasing how much range and versatility he has as a film composer. He may not be up there like a John Williams, Has Zimmer and Howard Shore, but Terence Blanchard is really starting to make a name for himself with two powerful pieces of music in a row.
I know most of us are itching to get back to the movie theaters sooner rather than later. I’m very aware of what’s currently going on in the country. All that said, Da 5 Bloods, while having relevance to what’s currently happening, to a degree, was able to sucker me in for one of the most impactful movie experiences I’ve had in quite some time. Spike Lee has his signature in the movie, for sure, but it doesn’t beat you over the head, yet he’s still able to give you his perspective in a sincere way. It’s emotionally moving, clever, violent and it really takes its time on focusing on the two most important aspects in any movie – character and story.
My grade for Da 5 Bloods: A+
Zane's take at the Cinema's 