Politics are ironically weak

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2018)

I watched this movie a short time after watching Do The Right Thing and while Blackkklansman is more optimistic, the parts of the movie that are not shots of real events ultimately are less powerful and pale in comparison both to the real events and Spike Lee's previous work.
Hearing the story of a black man being lynched is powerful, but it is a story inside a movie about a single black cop taking down obvious racists with the system working in his favor. It portrays racism as something clearcut (using the N-word, planning to blow up black people, calling neo-nazis good people), that can be destroyed by a single righteous black man who almost exclusively gets support from the white men around him. The movie tries to have a mouthpiece for the other side in Patrice, but she only says words and within the text is more or less wrong. Perhaps what we need is a more positive voice to rally behind but as a political piece it feels simple and bland. Unite and fight racism are good messages but they do not give much insight or guidance.
Not that it's a bad movie by any regard. The jokes are funny and the actors do an amazing job, even if the pacing's a little off. But Spike Lee already has told powerful stories and this is not one of them.