Da 5 Bloods review

DA 5 BLOODS: 

SPIKE LEE WAR FILM IS AN ABSOLUTE POWERHOUSE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

NETFLIX

A group of war veterans return to Vietnam in search of buried treasure in Da 5 Bloods

            A group of aging Vietnam War veterans return to the country in search for the remains of their fallen leader and treasure they buried while serving there in Da 5 Bloods, the latest film from director Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Chi-Raq, BlacKkKlansman). The film was originally written back in 2013 with Oliver Stone attached to direct under the title, The Last Tour but after Stone dropped out Lee stepped in and turned it into an ambitious, gritty, and very inspiring picture.

            Spike Lee does not sugar-coat any of it, he will throw you right into this harsh, nasty, and downright horrific subject matter that will disturb you, impact you on an emotional level, and make you think about current events in the country (and the entire world). There are a number of moments in this film that disturbed me greatly especially regarding archival footage and photographs of real-life deaths from the Vietnam War (one in particular involving an infant is burned into my mind) so be warned if you choose to watch this movie, you will see some heavy material but for a movie like this, it’s very warranted. 

            This movie is very hard to watch at times but it’s also very beautifully filmed, emotionally impactful, and often heartfelt. Lee’s uses of different aspect ratios to depict the time certain scenes take place (The scenes set during the Vietnam War are filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio while the scenes set in the present are filmed normally) is absolutely brilliant and never feels distracting and the friendship and brotherhood of the war vets is very powerful. 

            The film follows four African American Vietnam War veterans consisting of Paul (Delroy Lindo-Clockers,Broken Arrow, Ransom), Otis (Clarke Peters-The Wire, Treme, John Wick), Eddie (Norm Lewis-Stand by Me, Scandal, Just Mercy), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.-The Wire, 25^th Hour, BlacKkKlansman) and Paul’s son David (Jonathan Majors-Hostiles, White Boy Rick, Lovecraft Country) who return to Vietnam to find the remains of their fallen Squad Leader, Norman (Chadwick Boseman-42, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marshall) and recover gold that they buried while serving in the war. However, shortly after beginning their mission, the Bloods must battle forces of Man and Nature and are confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of the Vietnam War. 

            The film also stars Johnny Trí Nguyễn (Cradle 2 the Grave, Tom-Yum-Goong, The Rebel) as Vinh, Mélanie Thierry (One for the Road, Henry V, The Dancer) as Hedy Bouvier, Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman,Richard Jewell) as Simon, Jasper Pääkkönen (Vikings, BlacKkKlansman) as Seppo, Jean Reno (Mission: Impossible, Godzilla (1998), The Da Vinci Code) as Desroche, and Veronica Ngo (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Furie) as Hanoi. 

            Overall, Da 5 Bloods is a gripping, poignant, and thought-provoking depiction of war and the impacts it has on people in one of Lee’s most timely and relevant directing efforts throughout his career (and that’s saying a lot!). What I found very interesting about this movie is that it isn’t a movie set during the Vietnam War (Though many scenes do take place during it) but rather several years later to show what happened during the aftermath and how it affected the main characters, all done in a very Spike Lee way with a lot of social commentary and themes about racism and hate. 

            All the performances are great with the highlight being Delroy Lindo as Paul, an angry, short-tempered tough guy (Who also happens to be a Trump supporter, MAGA hat and all) suffering from PTSD. Lindo portrays him very convincingly and at first, you’d think his aggressive attitude would be played for laughs but as the film progresses it shifts back and forth from tragic and sympathetic to just plain creepy, it’s an Oscar worthy performance…I’ll just leave it at that. 

            This movie can get extremely violent and disturbing but never to the point where it becomes Torture Porn and overshadows the characters and story. The intense moments and real-life archival footage feel necessary to progress the story and keep the audience invested. 

            One scene in particular involves one of the main characters accidentally stepping on a land mine and the other characters need to pull him off of it with only a rope. Never before has a scene from the movie put me on the edge of my seat like this one. Honestly, it puts the Heath Ledger Joker boat sequence from The Dark Knight to shame…Oh yeah, I went there! 

            Da 5 Bloods isn’t for everyone and a few parts can drag at times (The film has a 156-minute runtime, a bit too long in my opinion) but I was never bored by it. I was thoroughly invested in the story and characters from beginning to end. 

            It’s easily one of the best Spike Lee movies and one of the best films of the year, if you got Netflix and want to see a powerhouse of a film then look no further than Da 5 Bloods. Just be ready to see some disturbing shit.