Made with a fiery spirit, rightfully pissed-off, and totally explosive in both an emotional and visceral manner, Spike Lee’s latest cinematic powder-keg, Da 5 Bloods, is a fantastic riff on a familiar set-up. Here’s Nick Clements Da 5 Bloods review.
Shot-through with layers of topical, sociopolitical resonance that smacks you in the face while you’re watching the genre-rific plot unfold.
This sprawling, epically-scaled film also gets extremely intimate and features an ATOMIC BOMB of a performance from Delroy Lindo, who literally opens his mouth the widest he can, and swallows the entire picture in one, massive, foul-mouthed bite.
The script, which was originally written in 2013 by The Rocketeer screenwriters Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo and then re-worked by Lee and Kevin Willmott, is heavy on action-packed incident and pointed sharp-tongued verbal sparring. I can’t wait for repeated viewings.
On the heels of his Oscar-winning BlacKkKlansmann, this film continues Lee’s hot streak with shedding light on the black experience within the confines of an “genre piece,” and the way he fuses what’s important with what’s entertaining is beyond skillful; I’ve long been a massive admirer of Lee’s filmmaking and storytelling sensibilities as he’s got the pure essence of cinema running through his bloodstream.
The hot-blooded narrative tells the story of five African-American Vietnam veterans who head back to the jungle in order to find the remains of their fallen brother in arms, as well as a large stash of hidden gold that was left behind over 40 years ago.
Things get very complicated when tempers flare within the group, mistakes are made, and the men encounter a squad of criminal soldiers who are just as interested in finding the gold as our heroes. Who, if anyone, will make it back home alive?
The supporting cast is aces up and down, with Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, Veronica Ngo, and Chadwick Boseman all dropping excellent turns. And the sense of true camaraderie that’s felt between the core group of guys is palpable all throughout, which raises the level of emotional attachment and personal stakes on the part of the viewer.
On an aesthetic level, the film is a visual firecracker up and down, with superb cinematography handled by veteran Newton Thomas Sigel, who opted to shoot the flashback sequences in 16 mm film stock, which definitely helps to foster a gritty sense of verisimilitude when juxtaposed with the slick yet rough tone and sheen of the modern-day sequences.
Terence Blanchard’s reliably huge and blustery musical score is in perfect tandem with some choice cuts on the soundtrack, and the frenzied editing by Adam Gough keeps a quick-pace despite the film running two and half hours.
Da 5 Bloods is currently streaming on Netflix.
Review by Nick Clement
Our Rating
Summary
This was Lee’s “Give Me The Netflix Money” movie, and he took full advantage, and made a doozy of a motion picture.
