Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/Ahb78xE_xyc

Hooked by the trailer, I keenly awaited the arrival of _Da 5 Bloods_ on Netflix. This is a new Spike Lee movie that follows four African-American veterans from the Vietnam War as they return to Vietnam decades later. Their reason for going back is twofold - they are in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader but also to recover a pile of gold they buried while in-country.

I’ll start off with the things I enjoyed about this.

I thought it was great to see Delroy Lindo front and centre of this movie. He’s a great actor and he is by far the stand out in this. In fact the best part of the whole movie belongs to him in a fantastic monologue delivered directly to the camera. It sears and makes you...

I enjoyed watching this.

<em>'Da 5 Bloods'</em> is very good, it kept me watching with interest from beginning to end. The cinematography is tremendous, there are many great looking scenes in this; the whole look of the film is top notch.

The run time could've perhaps been shorter, but most war films tend to go on for a while to be honest. I will say that I didn't enjoy the start and end as much I did the middle, but there's still enough in there. I would also agree that some of the real life imagery used is unnecessary.

The cast are excellent. Delroy Lindo is, for me, the star of the 156 minutes. He gives an outstanding performance as Paul, one I won't be forgetting any time soon. It's always a pleasure to see Chadwick Boseman (Norman), while Clarke Peters (Otis), Norm Lewis (Edd...

Ok, so a team of old African American soldiers decide to return to Vietnam to find the body of their colleague who was killed in action - and to retrieve some $17m worth of gold bars. En route they have to face some personal demons; an old girlfriend and the locals who have their own plans... It's not dreadful, but it certainly could not be described as Spike Lee anywhere near his best. The gang do emanate some sense of comradeship and loyalty, but in such a gung-ho fashion as to render the whole thing little better than a run-of-the mill Nicolas Cage style shoot 'em up effort with a really rather episodic and inevitable structure and a storyline remarkably indifferent to the indigenous population. Two and half hours is far too long, to. Looks great, though but sorry, more miss than hit fo...