A review by Brooks Rich
Da 5 Bloods dropped on Netflix earlier this year and I went completely cold. That sometimes happens with me when Spike Lee releases a film. I hear nothing about it and all of a sudden one day there's a new Spike Lee movie. This is always a good thing. Here Spike Lee makes a men-on-a-mission movie that also serves as an indictment of the Vietnam War, our current political climate, and the treatment of African-American soldiers after the conflict is over.
Four Vietnam vets return to Vietnam in the present to recover the remains of their fallen comrade. The men had been part of a unit called the Bloods and consider themselves brothers. Their friend was lost during the war and they want to give him a proper burial. But they have an ulterior motive as well – to recover gold they had buried back during the war.
The character work in this is fantastic. Spike always has fascinating characters. Even with all his political and racial statements, his characters are not one dimensional. Story has to be first above any sort of statement. For example, even as Spike comments on our current political situation, there's a character wearing a Make America Great Again hat, adding depth to his character.
Between this and BlacKKKlansman Spike seems to be moving into a new phase of his career. He seemed to return to the more independent film track after Inside Man (not that there's anything wrong with that,) but now Spike is back in the mainstream. This and Klansman show a filmmaker at the top of his craft – a brilliant artist who has steadily developed from his early days as a young filmmaker into an important filmmaker.
As always Spike is commenting on social issues and with Da 5 Bloods it's mainly about the treatment of black soldiers by the US Government. During Vietnam they were asked to fight in a senseless war and then come home to face brutality and violence from the police. They were asked to fight for freedoms they still have to struggle for to this day. There are a couple of powerful moments in the film when it flashes back to the war and we hear a radio transcript from the Viet Cong urging black soldiers to join their side – reminding them of the racism and violence they'll face when they go back home.
Watch this film immediately. It's on Netflix right now. It's an entertaining, but it has something really important to say, too.
Da 5 Bloods dropped on Netflix earlier this year and I went completely cold. That sometimes happens with me when Spike Lee releases a film. I hear nothing about it and all of a sudden one day there's a new Spike Lee movie. This is always a good thing. Here Spike Lee makes a men-on-a-mission movie that also serves as an indictment of the Vietnam War, our current political climate, and the treatment of African-American soldiers after the conflict is over.
Four Vietnam vets return to Vietnam in the present to recover the remains of their fallen comrade. The men had been part of a unit called the Bloods and consider themselves brothers. Their friend was lost during the war and they want to give him a proper burial. But they have an ulterior motive as well – to recover gold they had buried back during the war.
The character work in this is fantastic. Spike always has fascinating characters. Even with all his political and racial statements, his characters are not one dimensional. Story has to be first above any sort of statement. For example, even as Spike comments on our current political situation, there's a character wearing a Make America Great Again hat, adding depth to his character.
Between this and BlacKKKlansman Spike seems to be moving into a new phase of his career. He seemed to return to the more independent film track after Inside Man (not that there's anything wrong with that,) but now Spike is back in the mainstream. This and Klansman show a filmmaker at the top of his craft – a brilliant artist who has steadily developed from his early days as a young filmmaker into an important filmmaker.
As always Spike is commenting on social issues and with Da 5 Bloods it's mainly about the treatment of black soldiers by the US Government. During Vietnam they were asked to fight in a senseless war and then come home to face brutality and violence from the police. They were asked to fight for freedoms they still have to struggle for to this day. There are a couple of powerful moments in the film when it flashes back to the war and we hear a radio transcript from the Viet Cong urging black soldiers to join their side – reminding them of the racism and violence they'll face when they go back home.
Watch this film immediately. It's on Netflix right now. It's an entertaining, but it has something really important to say, too.
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