Da Spike Lee!

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2020)

Gotta admit that I found the archival footage and some preachy dialogue to be very distracting and off-putting for most of the first hour of the movie. Regardless, Da 5 Bloods is, like many other Spike Lee's joints, a helluva powerful movie. Unlike what I've seen by Spike Lee though, this one is truly thought-provoking because it really has a multi-layered narrative that explores a plethora of ideas on a superficial level and also on a substantive one. Plus, this is quite possibly the only movie about Vietnam war that's actually insightful and informative. So, this is quite something, I guess. I really admired that Spike Lee doesn't shy away from revealing uncomfortable truths about the Vietnam war almost as much as he doesn't shy away from showing sudden, and shocking, outbursts of violence and blood. Using variety of aspect ratios and colour correcting techniques were also truly impressive. And oh, the editing, just masterful! What is most astounding to consider about this effort, though, is how brilliantly it is disguised as an adventure film. I mean, this is as entertaining and smart as a decent adventure film can get. So, you don't really have any right to find its two-and-half hour runtime daunting. Last but not least, Delroy Lindo definitely deserves an Oscar for his performance here. His character, Paul, is the type of protagonists that attribute to the story and its messages on almost every level, and Lindo really couldn't have done it more justice.
(7.5/10)