Four African American vets battle the forces of man
and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader
and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah
Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno
Release Date: June 12, 2020
Genres: Drama, War
Rated R for strong violence, grisly images and pervasive language
Runtime: 2h 35min
Review:
Da 5 Bloods is a film that has a lot on its mind. Spike Lee foregoes subtly and delivers a
timely but decidedly didactic treaty on race which feels incredibly timely
given the current state of the world.
Lee’s visuals here are impressively aggressive throughout with aspect
ratios changing based on time periods and news reel footage interspaced to
highlight film some of his points. The
story itself feels like a something for the late 70s or 80s Vietnam films which
is clearly intentional. The cast is stellar
across the board with Delroy Lindo delivering some of his best work in his
storied career. It’s always great to see
The Wire alums get a spotlight and both Clarke Peter and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
both deliver excellent work here. Those
expecting Chadwick Boseman to be a major part of the film will likely walk away
disappointed since his character gets limited screen time even though he’s one
of the driving forces in the story.
While the basic plot is fairly basic, Lee uses multiple techniques to
keep the story engaging but its hard not to notice that there could have been
some cuts here or there to make the film tighter. As is, the film moves at a snail’s pace
working better as a series of character studies and history lesson.
B-
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