A Very Good Movie but Not Spike Lee's Return to Greatness

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 2018)

I really liked most of this movie. John David Washington and Adam Driver's performances were great, the soundtrack was good, and the last 40 minutes of this movie were brilliantly crafted and powerful. Where this movie slips up is just how heavy handed it is. Spike Lee tries so hard to make this THE movie of 2018; the movie that tackles Trump and tackles racism more head on than any movie recently, but instead of Spike Lee's attempts coming off as relevant and "important", it mostly comes off as annoying. Don't get me wrong, I agree with what Spike Lee was trying to say, but did he have to beat me over the head with the obvious themes of the film and then scream them into my face. Spike Lee needs to learn what subtly is. Also, this movie tries to be funny in many places, but mostly all the jokes just don't land.
Like I said, I liked this move but it's not the best movie of the year like a lot of critics are making it out to be. This is not Spike Lee's return to being a great filmmaker, and it's nowhere near the quality of Lee's earlier movies like Malcolm X.