While he hasn’t really ever slowed down, Spike Lee has had a particular hot streak in recent years. He won his first Oscar for the screenplay of “BlackKklansman”, he directed the acclaimed television adaptation of his film “She’s Gotta Have It” for Netflix, produced a time-travel film for Netflix “See You Yesterday” and even wrote and directed the story mode for “NBA 2K16.” Now he’s teaming up with Netflix yet again for his latest film, a Vietnam war film “Da 5 Bloods.”
This latest film follows a group of Vietnam war vets as they travel back to the country to retrieve not only the body of their fallen comrade but a stash of secret gold they buried together during the war. While this may seem like a simple plot, the way it spirals from there shows just how creative Lee can be when crafting a narrative.
There are twists and changes throughout the entire film, and the thick layers of tension that Lee and his co-writers Danny Bilson (“The Rocketeer,” “Trancers”), Paul De Meo (“The Rocketeer,” “Trancers”), Kevin Willmott (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Chi-Raq”) slather onto the events make every moment past the 35-minute mark anxiety inducing.
Every performance is excellent, with each actor bringing a level of commitment that makes them instantly likable, whether their role is large or small. However, the two massive standouts are Delroy Lindo (“The Cider House Rules,” “The Good Fight”) as Paul and Clarke Peters (“Red Hook Summer,” “The Wire”) as Otis. The film seems to pit the two against each other at most opportunities, making it seem as though they’re almost the devil and angel, respectively, on the shoulders of the movie’s moral compass.
Paul is stern and steadfast, and his internal conflicts with himself and the way his fellow Bloods have grown differently from him makes for a fascinating internal struggle that nestles itself deep in the center of the film’s questions. Likewise, Otis is also conflicted, but has a calmer personality and when the two are pitted against each other, teeth are bared and the emotional stakes are at their highest, and most effective peaks.
It’s difficult to talk about the film without spoiling anything, so let it just be said that the events conspire in ways that are emotionally satisfying for the arcs these characters go on, even though it isn’t the most action-packed conclusion or the most satisfying endings for the audience.
Musically, the film is scored by frequent Lee collaborator Terence Blanchard (“Harriet,” “BlackKklansman”) and his score thumbs with 70s era, Vietnam stylings that underscore some tense moments just as well as they underscore the emotional ones. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel (“Drive,” “The Usual Suspects”) does the same with his camerawork, shooting the tension and calm moments with the same level of precision that makes it virtually impossible to tell what’s coming next. He and Lee also nail the usage of different aspect ratios to communicate time-period and tone.
There is however something about “Bloods” that holds it ever so slightly back from being amongst Lee’s all-time best. While Lee’s best films either have a firm stake in real life stories (“Malcolm X,” “BlackKklansman”), or come from a place of nitty, gritty independence (“Do the Right Thing,” “She’s Gotta Have It”), “Da 5 Bloods” feels like his most crowd-pleasing film yet. That’s not a bad thing, as it still has plenty of his grit and spit-fire passion, as well as his voice that will definitely anger quite a few viewers. But despite that it oddly feels the most palatable compared to his past few films, like it’s been sanded down a bit.
An abundance of different plot threads, flashbacks, and characters could fall apart in the wrong director’s hands, but Lee lets them get just messy enough to maintain their interesting plot nature, without letting thing tumble out of his control. This is, at its very basic elements, a fantastic example of how a great director can keep a lot of complicated plates spinning without letting any of them topple.
Saying that “Da 5 Bloods” isn’t as good as Lee’s all-time greats might seem counterintuitive, because this is still a can’t miss film. Packed to the gills with great comedic moments as well as tense emotional journeys, and all anchored by a cast of top-notch performances, with Lindo and Peters delivering Oscar caliber stuff, it’s without a doubt the best film released so far this year. “Da 5 Bloods” is a prime example of a director churning out a pristine, if slightly sanded down, work at the top of their game. 4/5
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