Da 5 Bloods (2020) Movie Review
Da 5 Bloods is the latest feature film from director Spike Lee. The premise is incredibly simple but what ensues is incredibly complex. Four black veterans return to Vietnam to find the remains of their fallen squad leader. The men have an extra incentive to go back to Vietnam in the form of a hidden pile of gold that they hid in the jungle. But we don’t learn about that part until later.
Otis (Clarke Peters) is the de facto leader of the group. He is a calming presence and has connections with Tien (Le Y Lan), a former sex worker who he had a relationship with during his tour of duty. Tien is able to connect Otis with Desroche (Jean Reno), a French man who can help the vets get the gold out of Vietnam. The rest of the group consists of Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Paul (Delroy Lindo). The fifth member is their fallen squad leader Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman). The men are joined in their quest by Vinh (Johnny Nguyen), their guide to the jungle and to Vietnam in general.
The gold winds up being a Macguffin. The real heart and soul of this movie is the examination of the experience of black soldiers in Vietnam. The late 1960’s and early 1970’s was the peak of the Civil Rights movement. In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and Lee makes sure to mention this as well as his staunch opposition to the war. Lee also interjects other bits of history into the film with mentions of Crispus Attucks and Milton Olive III; the former killed in the Boston Massacre, the latter awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. It is not lost on Lee or the five bloods that they were fighting for a country that still didn’t, and quite frankly still doesn’t, recognize their rights.
The movie has some flashbacks to the fighting in Vietnam, where the only member who is in their youth is Norman. The other four men are played by the same actors as present day. You get smacked in the face with the insinuation that the soldiers never really leave the war and vice versa. The war scenes are wonderfully shot and there are a lot of them so there’s no chance you’ll be bored despite the longer run time of two and a half hours.
However, the absolute best part of Da 5 Bloods is the acting performances. Peters is a calm, reassuring presence. Lewis nails the confident exterior hiding a massive secret of failure. Whitlock Jr. provides some comic relief. But the star of the show is Lindo, perhaps because his character is the most complex and disagreeable of them all. Lindo wears a MAGA hat throughout the trek in the jungle and his rage seeps through in every situation. He is in a constant battle with his companions but more importantly with himself. There is one scene where Lindo addresses the camera directly and descends into a monologue where he rages against the United States government. Lindo locks eyes with the viewer and won’t let you look away. His raw emotions are on full display throughout Da 5 Bloods, and it is his navigation of those feelings that make him intriguing.
All the while, Lee persistently reminds you that black soldiers did not have the same experience as white soldiers in Vietnam. And as evidenced by several conversations amongst the four veterans, they often had a worse experience if they returned home. As with most of Lee’s films you can guess where most of this is headed before you arrive, but the fun of it is the getting there. He combines history, black experiences, politics, civil rights, a killer soundtrack, and powerhouse performances to give you a tense and violent war movie. Da 5 Bloods is one of Lee’s most enthralling and impactful films.
Film or Movie: Film
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You’re a fan of Spike Lee’s other films
2. You like war movies, particularly those about Vietnam
3. You like rambling plots with unique character studies
