Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Director: Spike Lee

Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters
Runtime: 154 minutes

Synopsis: 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.

Performances: 7/10
Screenplay: 5/10
Editing: 5/10
Cinematography: 8/10
Score/Soundtrack: 7/10

Verdict: 2020 has been a disappointing year for movies. Halfway through the year, I have yet to see one film that would make my "Best of" list yet. However, following the small buzz it gathered and a trailer that quite honestly looked pretty epic, I had faith that Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" was going to be the exception to that unwritten rule. And while I'd still consider it to be one of the year's best so far, I sadly wasn't as blown away as I was expecting to be.

The main reason behind that disappointment isn't the cinematography, which effectively recreated the retro look of the flashbacks experienced by the four protagonists who go back to Vietnam to retrieve the remains of a member of their squad as well as a small treasure they buried there during the war, but rather the narrative. I'm not entirely sure what Lee's goal was, and that resulted in the film being an overwhelming mixture of drama, comedy, action, and adventure. The camaraderie between the four veterans was overall well handled, but I found the emotion to be severely lacking in a bunch of scenes where comedy was prioritized over human reactions. Speaking of scenes, many slowed the pace down to a point where the runtime of two and a half hours took a toll on me, and I started checking out about 2 hours in.

The best element of the film is easily the identity struggle the characters go through, which is backed by snippets of speeches by famous African-American revolutionaries and important dates that led to African-Americans being engaged in a war that hurt them more than it benefited them. The comedic tone made it difficult to take it as seriously as it should've, but it was nonetheless an interesting look at how that community was affected by that war.

"Da 5 Bloods" is far from being Lee's best work but since it's available on Netflix, I'd still recommend giving it a go. It's a bit of a wasted opportunity to tell a truly special story, but I can see some people enjoying it for what it is.

FINAL GRADE: 6/10