It's Basically 'Tropic Thunder' 2

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2020)

To be honest, this movie wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I'm skeptical when it comes to Spike Lee movies, some aren't always his best. But this one is pretty alright. It held my attention from start to finish, and of course, it's loaded with overdramatic scenes of battle, which I felt was very deliberate in the first place.
As for the story of 'Da 5 Bloods' it's heavily reminiscent of 2008's 'Tropic Thunder' 1999's 'Three Kings' and it wouldn't surprise me if Lee got some inspiration from those movie. Despite being a comedy, 'Tropic Thunder' still sits as one of the best parodies of Vietnam War movies. But back to 'Da 5 Bloods, ' overall the story has that Shakespearean vibe to it that is common in some of Lee's films. Everything is purposely overdramatic but never melodramatic. The action scenes are parodies of 1980 Vietnam war movies. I think the runtime was unnecessarily long, but again, I think this was a nod to 'Apocalypse Now' with its ridiculously long runtime.
Everything put into this movie is a nod towards previous films, but at it's core, Lee showcases the trial and tribunals of the black soldiers who fought during the war. Of how their relationship with the war coalescent with social inequality back in the States, something black soldiers had had to juggle with since the Revolutionary War. It's a glaring and interesting dynamic.
All in all, I feel 'Da 5 Bloods' is a good Spike Lee film to get into.