This emphasis on the past leads to some uncomfortable moments in the film as those experiences clash together. 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. If he prevails for “Da 5 Bloods,” Lee would not only be the first Black person to win the award. This is combined with the way the film uses depth throughout to draw you into everything in the frame. No one could fault you if you watched the latest Spike Lee Joint, Da 5 Bloods, and wondered whether it was based on a true story. Stormin' Norman is played by the charismatic Chadwick Boseman of Black Panther in several exciting, combat-heavy flashbacks. Today I look at a film that has all of that, okay not the elephant part, while hitting the realities and legacy of the Vietnam War. Also, this is a good reminder that landmines are an abomination and should never be used. One key subplot involves Paul's son, played by Jonathan Majors from last year's The Last Black Man in San Francisco. You can’t call Da 5 Bloods Spike Lee’s masterpiece, because that devalues the staggering accomplishments of Do The Right Thing , … One of the interesting choices the film makes is that use the same actors in both periods, which could be a comment on those who died never got a chance to grow up, or just a way to get us to connect with our core four quicker, or indeed something else entirely. Da 5 Bloods is one of Lee’s most complete films. It is not just the ratio, the colour saturation, even the style and way the sections are shot feels like a blast from the past. Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Da 5 BloodsDirected by – Spike LeeWritten by – Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Spike Lee & Kevin WillmottMusic by – Terence BlanchardCinematography by – Newton Thomas SigelEdited by – Adam GoughProduction/Distribution Companies – 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Rahway Road, Lloyd Levin/Beatriz Levin Production & NetflixStarring – Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, Van Veronica Ngo, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Lê Y Lan, Nguyễn Ngọc Lâm & Sandy Hương Phạm     Rating – Australia: MA15+; Pingback: Awards – My Top 15 Films of 2020 | TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis. hide caption. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. So to set the scene, we open in on a montage of Black America and their experiences in war, specifically Vietnam War or the American War as it is known in Vietnam. After Da 5 Bloods ’ opening montage of archival imagery—presented in a variety of formats and aspect ratios, none of which fill an entire HDTV screen—Lee dissolves from a … Whether with "Do The Right Thing" or his upcoming Netflix release, Spike Lee's works offer essential snapshots of race relations. There is the closure of finding’s Norman’s body, the official reason that they are all there, and then there is the unofficial reason of getting that gold back, CIA gold. Score – 4.5 out of 5 starsPost-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit moment, Awards:Nominated: Explosive Action & The Emotion. But even at its most unwieldy, I found it easy to forgive Da 5 Bloods its excesses, and to simply go along with these characters on their wildly unpredictable and ultimately devastating journey. Change ). Yes, yes, we do. It is also how the film can use tension, to its highest effect. This is a film that jumps between different time frames, going from today to back to the War. 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. By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.Have you watched Da 5 Bloods?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias, and you can follow us Here. Financial analysis of Da 5 Bloods (2020) including budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. His bid alone would make him the first to compete for it twice. Da 5 Bloods next includes the infamous shooting at Kent State University, which resulted in the deaths of William Schroeder, Allison Krause, Jeffrey … It is also a way of showing people’s state of mind as they slip back to the past. Fierce energy and ambition course through Da 5 Bloods, coming together to fuel one of Spike Lee's most urgent and impactful films. All of this builds upon the story giving it the layers it needs. Director Spike Lee's new movie "Da 5 Bloods" (now streaming on Netflix) is a roaring success as an action-thriller about four veterans who return to Vietnam after 50 years to … Moreover, Da 5 Bloods, on one level, is a retelling of John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Norm Lewis are Melvin and Eddie, on hand to provide warm vibes and comic relief. This is where we get a crash course on the War from start to finish through a lens we don’t always see. On the surface level, you can immediately tell when it shifts as the aspect ratio changes from the widescreen to that TV ratio that you would expect from the 1980s. For a movie that revolves around the Vietnamese/American War, it goes out of its way to validate the perspectives of everyone. You see this most clearly with the complicated relationship he has with his son David (Jonathan Majors) who comes along with him because he is concerned about his father. Meanwhile, "Da 5 Bloods" has also earned NAACP Image Award nominations for best motion picture and best actor for Lindo. Now four of them have returned to that country decades later. Da 5 Bloods is partially an attempt to reclaim the Vietnam War historical narrative for the soldiers who, despite making up 11% of the population, comprised 1/3 … However, it is that rawness that brings you in and makes every moment hit harder. Review –There have been a lot of films set during the Vietnam War or explores its aftermath. Film Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods' revisits African-American history. ( Log Out /  Learn how your comment data is processed. Their reunion in Ho Chi Minh City begins on a funny, celebratory note. No matter the reason, it is instrumental in bringing that hard reality of what is going through the characters’ heads onto the screen. I’ve seen the image of the general being killed on the street but never the video, and that is going to impact my soul for a while. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. If you liked Da 5 Bloods, I would also recommend BlacKkKlansman. It is raw and painful, and it does not mess around.The story is a roller coaster of pain and shock, but to discuss it, we will touch on a couple of things that could be [SPOILERS] so please be cautious in the next sections if you have not watched the film yet. ( Log Out /  This relationship is at the core of the dysfunction and catharsis of the film, and it is an emotional punch to the gut throughout the film. Da 5 Bloods underscores how egregious it is that Lee has been perennially overlooked for the Academy's top prizes; even as one of this year's … Paul (Delroy Lindo), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Otis (Clarke Peters) & Eddie (Norm Lewis) have come back to Vietnam for one reason, to find the body of one of their fallen comrades Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman). We should be moving closer to our obligations under the Ottawa Treaty not further away. Though the Ride of the Valkyries is used to reconceptualise this film from other films even though it makes many references to Apocalypse Now and Rambo. His death still haunts all of them, especially Paul, who is consumed with guilt for not having saved his comrade's life. The film also does not waste a teaching moment, when a name or reference is brought up, they will cut to a photo and give it the context it needs. With Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis. Da 5 Bloods Movie Review today! Four black war veterans (Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo) and one veteran's son (Jonathan Majors) return to Vietnam in Da 5 Bloods. Da 5 Bloods is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike … Showing all 3 items Jump to: Summaries (2) Synopsis (1) Summaries. The screenplay is credited to Lee, Kevin Willmott, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, and it lays out the Bloods' rationale with unsurprising bluntness, sometimes cutting away from the story to provide historical context, and sometimes injecting that context into the characters' own dialogue. It is not a noble war like WW2 in people’s minds, it was bloody, unnecessary, and it left shockwaves throughout American society, that we are still living through today. But in the final analysis, if … At the core of Da 5 Bloods is Paul, who shifts from being one of the group to taking it over, to being on the outside and back, all while trying to process his pain. Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods was supposed to open in select theaters, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and forced Netflix to change its plans. ( Log Out /  Beyond The Trailer reaction & movie review 2020! Four black war veterans (Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo) and one veteran's son (Jonathan Majors) return to Vietnam in Da 5 Bloods. His latest — even though it takes place in present-day Vietnam — is no exception. However, there may also be a whole lot of gold from the war on the line as well. The National Board of Review has named Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” as the year’s best film and ensemble. Da 5 Bloods reunites Lee with past collaborators including Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Which is, of course, helped by the beautiful scenery of Vietnam on show in every moment. Lee uses them to highlight another commonality: their strenuous opposition to the Vietnam War. Clarke Peters plays Otis, the cool-headed planner behind their trip. ( Log Out /  We jump to today in Ho Chi Minh City today where four old friends come together again in a country they once fought in, a place full of memories but also somewhere that has gone through a lot of changes. Of course, this is not the first film to do that, but they go out of their way to highlight that jump. The gold is meant to buy the allegiance of local fighters against the Viet Cong, but the Bloods, upon finding it, make other plans. Their reunion in Ho Chi Minh … They talk about the horrors of slavery, the struggles of the civil rights movement and the grossly disproportionate number of black soldiers who were sent to fight and die in Vietnam. Directed by Spike Lee. We see Norman and the other four Bloods being sent into the Vietnamese jungle to recover a stash of gold bars from a downed U.S. plane. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. A new Spike Lee joint, Da 5 Bloods, is taking Netflix by storm with its exploration of the Vietnam experience through the eyes of a squad of Black ex-soldiers. You could accuse Spike Lee of trying to do and say too much, and you wouldn't be the first one to do so: He can be a maddeningly undisciplined storyteller, but also a generous and thoughtful one. And so the Bloods, making their own case for reparations, decide to bury the gold and return for it at a later date, vowing to use it to benefit their communities. It's also a companion piece to Lee's World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna, another critique of the U.S.' long, shameful history of devaluing its black soldiers. Da 5 Bloods plays with all these pulpy elements, right down to someone who might be described as a Vietnamese bandit shouting, “We don’t need no … Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods is a true ensemble showcase (fittingly, nominated for the SAG Awards' best ensemble cast), following a group of Vietnam vets as … Da 5 Bloods (2020) Plot. Those complications are then amplified because everyone is bringing their damage with them. There's something both moving and essential about his attempt to reclaim the Vietnam War film from a black perspective. I should say it does not use the censored, nor does it give you the luxury of being in black and white, it instead shows the awfulness in its full colour. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Da 5 Bloods 2020 | R | 2h 35m | Dramas Four African American veterans return to Vietnam decades after the war to find their squad leader's remains — and a stash of buried gold. You see this most clearly with the complicated relationship he has with his son David (Jonathan Majors) who comes along with him because he is concerned about his father. Delroy Lindo! Parents need to know that Da 5 Bloods is Spike Lee's first film made for Netflix. Personally, it reminded me of Richard Linklater's Vietnam-vet drama Last Flag Flying, with a bit of Rambo-esque carnage sprinkled in. There are a lot of supporting characters, too, including a Vietnamese businesswoman whom Otis knew during the war and three humanitarian workers who specialize in clearing old land mines. On the surface, Da 5 Bloods is a film about righting a wrong and bringing closure for everyone and their experiences in the War. David Lee/Netflix Jonathan Majors! And then there's Paul, played in a stand-out performance by Delroy Lindo, a fixture of Lee's '90s films like Crooklyn. You might also like. Like other recent movies from Lee, the tone of Da 5 Bloods swings wildly over its 155 minutes. Da 5 Bloods is a film that goes out of its way to both humanise people while exploring the dehumanising nature of war. Read critic reviews. It also focuses on the real impact of war, how it affects people, the legacy it leaves. These dual focuses create complications right from the start because everyone is hiding something. At 2 hours and 35 minutes, Da 5 Bloods is an unwieldy sprawl: It's like a platoon picture, a heist thriller, a history lesson and a grumpy-old-men comedy rolled into one, spliced together with documentary footage and a Marvin Gaye-heavy soundtrack. TL;DR – A powerful film that hurt to watch at times, but I am glad that I did. At the core of Da 5 Bloods is Paul, who shifts from being one of the group to taking it over, to being on the outside and back, all while trying to process his pain. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. You could call that unfortunate timing, except that amid nationwide protests against racism and police violence, the movie could hardly be timelier. Awards – My Top 15 Films of 2020 | TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis. Spike Lee Netflix! “Da 5 Bloods” shows Black men as agents of their own destiny, capable of both heroism and horror, as we all are as human beings whose inhumanity is … From a production point of view, this film is doing a lot of exciting things. How do you capture a war like that, well some have done it through sceptical, some have done it through horror, and there was that one time was a flying elephant. For Ali, the objection cost him several productive years of his career and his heavyweight title; for Dr. King, this … He tags along for the trip, and his strained relationship with his dad adds a dose of melodrama to a picture that's already bursting at the seams. Da 5 Bloods follows a group of black war veterans who fought together in Vietnam in 1971. It’s at times a violent action film, an old-guy buddy comedy, and an … When this is combined with the use of music from Marvin Gaye brings you audibly into the world without hitting all of the same songs you usually hear. Da 5 Bloods Movie Review: Script Analysis Spike Lee ended BlackKklansman with a high-voltage montage showcasing what’s wrong with the world at … Da 5 Bloods follows a group of black war veterans who fought together in Vietnam in 1971. Paul's post-war life has been full of loss and disappointment, and he emerges as the movie's most complicated and emotionally ravaged character. It is a hard film to watch at times, both with the story and with the associated imagery. Nearly two years after the release of his award-winning film BlacKkKlansman, Lee has invested his energy into this radical war drama, Da 5 Bloods. The fifth Blood is their squad leader, affectionately known as "Stormin' Norman," who was killed in combat in '71. Now four of them have returned to that country decades later. From the moment someone mentions landmines, every step becomes a moment in fear welling up with every ping of the metal detector. He's made a loving throwback to the Hollywood war movies of yesteryear that can't help but make you think about all the stories those movies never got around to telling. Lee has never been shy about confronting these subjects in films like Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and the recent BlacKkKlansman. While the heart of the story takes place in current day, flashbacks, historical documents, newsreel footage, and photographs augment Lee's powerful exploration of war and race over half a century. This article will tackle the plot and all of its themes that are presented in this 2 hour and 35-minute film, analyzing its relevance in history — of American history, of global history, and of movie-making history. After all, most … Spike Lee ’s excellent “Da 5 Bloods” opens with Muhammad Ali and closes with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., two legends who are inextricably tied to the Civil Rights movement and Black pride. In so many films set in this era, you will have Vietnamese troops walking along talking, but here the film takes the time to subtitle what they are saying, bringing them into focus rather than othering them as you would typically do. Da 5 Bloods 2020 | R | 2h 35m | Military Action & Adventure Four African American veterans return to Vietnam decades after the war to find their squad leader's remains — and a stash of buried gold. Lee loves his polemics, but he also loves classic Hollywood, and for all its urgency, Da 5 Bloods plays like an old-fashioned action-adventure saga, complete with references to films like Apocalypse Now and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. That tension would not work, unless you believe in the group, the Bloods, and you do because of the conviction of the actors and the writing that brings them to life.In the end, do we recommend Da 5 Bloods? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Toward the end of “Da 5 Bloods,” Spike Lee’s big, brash and rightly furious sprawl of a movie, a character offers one of those grand summations so obvious that you may wonder why it … They along with Norm Lewis star … Whether with `` Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and the BlacKkKlansman. 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