Review: Da 5 Bloods

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Back together again.

Four men who fought in the Vietnam War; Otis, (Clarke Peters) Paul, (Delroy Lindo) Eddie, (Norm Lewis) and Melvin (Isiah Washington) have returned to Vietnam to bring back the remains of their fallen friend, Norman (Chadwick Boseman in flashbacks, and the main actors also play their younger parts) and the gold he helped them hide.

The newest Spike Lee joint has a lot to say. Much like he's done in the past, he starts and ends with important black figures. This time Mohammad Ali, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He uses their quotes to highlight the conflict of what black soldiers faced during the Vietnam war. They were promised freedom, and didn't get it. These 5 men, calling themselves "Bloods" were all connected. Now that many years have passed, things have changed. Paul in particular is somehow a Trump supporter much to the bewilderment of everyone else. And he has a lot to work out with his son David (Jonathan Majors) who tags along for the ride. Lee easily remains one of the most interesting directors out there, and while this isn't my favorite of his, it's still very good.

The performances in this film are incredible all around. The two that stand out the most are Lindo and Peters. Being a fan of The Wire, Peters I've been very familiar with and seen plenty of his work but for the love of God PLEASE let this be the film that finally gets him an Oscar nomination. (Yes, it's June and we're talking Oscars) He was that good. Lindo I wasn't as familiar with. He probably had the hardest job to do. Saying that Paul has an emotional journey in this film would be an understatement. I really hope they push him as lead and Clarke in supporting. 

I found this to be a bit choppy at times. Lee edits many photos into the story when the characters are talking about various things, almost making it feel documentary-like, but it didn't always work for me. Overall, I'm just excited to have a film like this out on Netflix now. I imagine it's one people are going to be talking about for a while.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B 

Memorable Quote: "Damn, Otis. Just put the gold on Craigslist!" - Melvin (Isiah Washington)

Comments

  1. Candice FrederickJune 16, 2020 at 8:16 AM

    interesting note about the clip montage! i absolutely love this movie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 16, 2020 at 2:24 PM

      I'm sure he's used this tactic before, but I'm struggling to remember an example of it to compare. I'm glad you loved it!

      Delete
  2. Courtney YoungJune 16, 2020 at 8:29 AM

    I'm about 1/3 into the movie now. I like it, but I definitely feel the choppy vibe you (and many others) speak of. Brb..going to finish it now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sonia CercaJune 16, 2020 at 9:07 AM

    I absolutely loved Lindo’s performance but I thought the film was overall just okay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 16, 2020 at 2:23 PM

      It was pretty long. That's something I forgot to mention, it did not need to be 2.5 hours.

      Delete
  4. thevoid99June 16, 2020 at 3:29 PM

    I heard this is an imperfect film but I still want to see this as I did download it as I hope to check it out this month as I think Spike is on a creative high based on BlackKklansman and the recent shorts he made.

    ReplyDelete
  5. DellJune 18, 2020 at 11:15 AM

    We have a lot of the same feelings on this one, especially the documentary vibe it occasionally gives. Lindo is great in everything he's in, even bad movies. That said, I think this is his best performance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 18, 2020 at 12:27 PM

      I'll have to look into his filmography more, because I wasn't as familiar with him as I was Peters and Washington (who I really need to stop referring to by their Wire character names)

      Delete

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