Spike's charm saves it

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2020)

I'm not a huge Spike Lee fan- I think his large output has been very hit or miss, with little in between. But now in his later years that might be changing. With BlackkKlansmen and now Da 5 Bloods, he seems to have hit a stride with these relaxed, fun, perfectly enjoyable films.
While I find Spike's activism admirable, I don't like preachy films. It's lazy to beat an audience over the head with your message. This movie is very guilty of that laziness and it is eye-rollingly hokey at times.
That said, Delroy Lindo was hilarious and it was a pleasure to see him and Spike collaborate again. The techniques used such as changing aspect ratios and fourth wall breaking monologues only work when the tone isn't restrictive. I'm not blown away by this movie, and I wasn't moved by it, but as a comedy I thought it worked well enough.