Da 5 Bloods

Starring: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Melanie Thierry, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Paakonen, Johnny Nguyen, Jean Reno, Lam Nguyen, Sandy Huong Pham
Directed by: Spike Lee
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Four African-American Vietnam veterans return to the country to find their fallen friend, as well as the millions in gold they buried.

Review:

Tim: I was pretty excited to watch Da 5 Bloods, Spike Lee's latest joint (and the 10th movie of his I've seen). The movie got rave reviews and was routinely praised for being a timely, powerful piece of film-making. As I watched the film with those expectations, I was continuously perplexed. Was I watching the same movie as so many critics? This overly long, meandering film was the one so many people were praising?

I do have a potentially controversial reason in the disparity between average moviegoers (who didn't love this movie) and critics. The film dropped in June 2020, amidst a nationwide effort to reexamine racism in America. There has been far too many murders of black men by police (anything more than zero is too many), widespread racist acts by disgusting racists spurred by Trump, and major protests against systemic racism. These efforts to move forward on the issue of racism in America are positive ones and should be applauded. This movie came at a fortunate time- it's by one of the most prestigious black filmmakers in America, features a diverse cast, and examines the plight of African-American soldiers in Vietnam and the issues they faced when they returned. The timing was perfect.

Here's the thing- this isn't as good of a movie as people claimed. That is what's frustrating to me. It felt like a ton of white critics seized this opportunity to praise something that came out at the right time to support the cause. I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement, but I cannot call Da 5 Bloods a good movie. Lee gets lost in the jungle here, telling a meandering story that loses its effectiveness in the soggy middle to such a point that it blunts the impact of the ending.

The film starts out promising enough. We're introduced to these four Vietnam vets who are returning to Vietnam after decades away. They are struggling with their own memories, nightmares, hopes, and PTSD. It's a perfect setup and we learn they have two main objectives- retrieve the body of their beloved friend and fellow soldier, as well as dig up millions in stolen, buried gold. This again is brilliant- their objectives are both selfless and incredibly self-serving. The film teeters between these two points. What starts out strong, though, quickly begins to fall apart.

There's a lot of problems with this film. The characters feel like they easily stray into overacting territory. I understand the point of showing the extreme emotions they experience, but it's not always convincing. From the posturing to the emotional outbursts, it's not always convincing. The story is overly predictable, too. Lee absolutely telegraphs one of the big "shocking" moments. He foreshadows it too overtly, then shoots the shot in a way that is so obvious what is about to happen. The lack of subtlety took what should have been a stunning, emotional moment, and ruined it. Contrast this with the same thing that happens later with a more minor character- it was more surprising and well-done (although it did feel like Lee went to the well again for the same effect).

The jungle scenes became increasingly difficult to watch. You have characters making illogical decisions, where their PTSD felt like an inadequate explanation. None of these moments are terrible, they just keep coming and going as the movie stretches its legs for far, far too long. That succumbing to excess greatly hurts the movie. The movie should have been at least 30 minutes shorter, That's an egregious misuse of time. It turns what could have been a powerful story into a bloated mess.

I struggled somewhat with the cast. I really like Delroy Lindo- when we started the movie, I told my wife (who abandoned the film about 45 minutes in) how excited I was to see Lindo here. He did some admittedly wonderful things- a few of his closeups were outstanding. However, far too much of his performance felt forced and unnecessarily over-the-top. Especially early on, I struggled mightily to believe his performance. Clarke Peters was excellent in a subdued and authentic performance. He's a big contrast to Lindo, who seems to do everything multiple levels louder/stronger than he needed to. Peters' performance sneaks up on you as the film progresses. Norm Lewis was good, but I can't say I loved his performance. Isiah Whitlock Jr. has some really strong moments, too. I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Majors- I really think he's one of the most talented younger actors working today. He was excellent here, emerging as one of the strongest members of the cast. I didn't believe Melanie Thierry's performance at all. Johnny Nguyen was excellent in a supporting performance, bringing a different demeanor and approach than the rest of the cast. It was very welcome. I loved seeing Jean Reno here- I can't remember the last time I saw him in a film. While his performance was good, his character wasn't well written. Finally, I loved the time we got with Chadwick Boseman. His character felt like the most interesting of the entire film, which is a shame because his role is so small and only in flashbacks. I wish Boseman had a much bigger role.

Lee does some interesting things with this film. I thought it fascinating that in the flashback scenes to the Vietnam War, you had Chadwick Boseman with the four older actors playing themselves without much in terms of de-aging. It was fascinating to see Lee decide not to cast younger actors in these roles. Part of me loved that approach, part of me hated it because it felt so unrealistic, part of me was impressed with Lee's trust that the audience would go with it. It does also speak to the relative lack of focus on the flashback scenes- they're really there just to serve the contemporary story, rather than being truly effective on their own.

Da 5 Bloods is an okay movie. It has some strengths, but those are buried deep in a jungle of obvious flaws and desperate need for editing. I sat down excited and ready to watch this film and I struggled mightily to stay focused and interested. I wish I could have enjoyed this movie, but I simply didn't. Spike Lee has made some tremendous films in his career, but his best movies harness his unique style while showing restraint. That didn't happen here and it's the biggest reason this movie isn't more effective.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



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