The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ has something to say, lukewarm story
Spike Lee dresses a too-familiar story of treasure seeking with worthwhile commentary about war, being black in America
Given the outrage expressed in American streets the last couple of weeks, “Da 5 Bloods” feels incredibly timely. No, the latest work from veteran filmmaker Spike Lee isn’t about police brutality inflicted upon black citizens. Instead, the film — landing on Netflix — revolves around a group of African-American men drafted decades earlier to fight in the Vietnam War returning to the Asian country for some hugely important unfinished business. To begin his latest “joint,” Lee insists the viewer have some context about the 1960s and ‘70s in America through the inclusion of historical photographs and clips, many of the latter snippets of powerful speeches by key black figures of the day such as Martin Luther King Jr., Kwame Ture and Angela Davis. It is a very effective bit of table setting. However, while Lee continues to explore the idea that black Americans repeatedly have been asked to fight for a country many of them never truly felt was theirs, the story he and three co-writers tell in “Da 5 Bloods” is a rather ordinary, often-lumbering one of greed, mistrust, paranoia and anger. Da 5 Bloods was the name adopted by five soldiers in Vietnam who now stand as four, as their leader, “Stormin’” Norman (Chadwick Boseman), was killed in the conflict. Early on in the film, the surviving men — Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) — reunite at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. “Da Bloods is back!” announces a happy Melvin. The aforementioned unfinished business: retrieve Norman’s remains AND millions of dollars worth of gold bars they “repossessed” from the government during the war and buried before leaving Vietnam. Also along for the ride is Paul’s son, David (Jonathan Majors), who shows up at the hotel and extorts his way into the affair. While Paul doesn’t like how David made himself a part of the effort, the two have had a bumpy relationship and he’s happy to have the time with his offspring. To find the gold and turn it into riches they can access, the guys need help, which they seek from Otis’ former lover, Tiên Luu (Lê Y Lan); an acquaintance of hers who works in international exports, Desroche (Jean Reno); and a guide who gets them to the jungle they once patrolled but who is forbidden by the men to enter it with them, Vinh Tran (Johnny Trí Nguy n). In the jungle, we learn more about what the men have dealt with in the many years since combat, the kinds of struggles common to many who’ve served: post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and financial challenges, among them. It is Paul who lives with PTSD, and he was the closest to Norman and the one most devastated by his death. While he regularly speaks to his deceased friend, all the men were fond of their platoon leader, who sought to educate the then-young men on the ways war and money go together and about black history, before that was much of a concept. “He was our Malcolm,” Otis tells David, “AND our Martin.” Fans of Boseman should not expect much screen time for the “Black Panther” star, but he does appear in several flashbacks, which Lee presents in the old 4:3 aspect ratio. The more interesting artistic — if also possibly budget-driven — choice Lee makes is to have the other four Bloods appear as their 60-something selves in the flashbacks, the film’s production notes saying this is to represent how the memories of the war stay with veterans as they grow older.
Unfortunately, there are too few truly interesting aspects to “Da 5 Bloods.” You get some of the types of plot developments common to tales in which folks seek a fortune — in this case, literal buried treasure. There are bad guys who want the gold for themselves, innocent bystanders — in the form of a trio of friends devoted to landmine-removal, which serves as a bit of obvious foreshadowing — and different agendas within the core group. Still, the movie has enough important subject matter to make it worth a look. While Lee sees “Da 5 Bloods” as standing from the Vietnam War-film pack with its perspective being from black soldiers, he also cites as influences classic war films “Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Apocalypse Now.” There are some major tips of the hat to the latter, including the prominent use of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” Speaking of music, the film also benefits from the inclusion of a notable amount of work by the late, great Marvin Gaye. On the acting front, the expressive Lindo (“Malcolm X,” “Get Shorty”) is the standout, bringing a great deal of passion to Paul, even if the character is a bit overwritten. (And we have to mention how nice it is to see the pairing of “The Wire” alums Peters and Whitlock, even if their respective characters from that standout series, Detective Lester Freamon and state Senator Clay Davis, had little to do with each other directly.) Behind the camera, Lee always has been and forever will be a filmmaker who commands attention. That said, “Da 5 Bloods” simply doesn’t sit alongside his finest works, including 1989’s “Do the Right Thing,” 1992’s “Malcolm X” and 2018’s “BlacKkKlansman.” Again, though, you can’t escape its relevance in this moment. Lee certainly didn’t make it in the last few weeks, and, yet, near its conclusion, it includes a scene with “Black Lives Matter” chants and shirts. “Da 5 Bloods” has its faults, but it offers food for thought, and we can’t really have enough of that right now.