Review of Da 5 Bloods
midlandsmovies • June 7, 2020
Review of Da 5 Bloods (2920) Dir. Spike Lee
After 40 years, four African-American Vietnam veterans, return to the country in search of their buried riches and the remains of their fallen comrade. Spike Lee provides a much needed in this time, traditionally thought provoking take on a historic event, tying issues of race and military rooted PTSD together in a way you wouldn’t have necessarily considered before.
The 5 Bloods, played excellently by Delroy Lindo, Chadwick Boseman, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isiah Whitlock Jr, create an authentic and believable brotherhood with Lindo deserving of particularly high praise (maybe even Oscar worthy!?) in his portrayal of the Make America Great Again cap donning Paul. Paul is clearly still troubled by the ghosts of his pasts and feels robbed by the death of the squad leader Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman). The dynamic of the group as they have grown to possess different beliefs is a fascinating one. Paul’s greed stretches the limits of his friendships at times and when his son, David (Jonathan Majors), is brought into the mix, it provides some of the best conflicts in characters I’ve seen in recent times.
The intertwining of real archival footage into the film is truly disturbing yet hugely emotional and hard hitting, reminding the audience of the authenticity of the societal issues portrayed. The inclusion of high profile black rights activists and sportsmen like Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali bring a new depth to the narrative and result in consideration of how much this film replicates real life and pushes positive ideologies in a time where conversations about these issues are finally coming to the forefront of society.
Aspect ratio is used excellently in flashback scenes by Lee to differentiate between the time and location of the on screen events. It worked perfectly to recreate the atmosphere of a war-torn climate, and nostalgically reminded me of other Vietnam war based epics like Platoon and Apocalypse Now.
What was slightly more jarring in the flashback scenes was the decision by Lee to not use younger actors or de-aging technology to alter the appearance of our main characters, with them appearing as the present day, slightly out of shape, greying older men in scenes that took place 40 years ago. Through interviews I have seen with Lee, I understand that this was largely down to Netflix providing a smaller budget for this film compared to Martin Scorsese’s, de-aging technology filled, The Irishman.
However, it just seemed a little too out of reality with four 60-something year old men running around the Vietnam jungle with Chadwick Boseman in Marvel superhero shape .
Da 5 Bloods doesn’t just work as a film but as a learning experience where I can assure that after watching you will come away as a more informed and open minded individual. The films grasps at a lot of different emotions throughout it’s runtime and I think it managed all of them very successfully.
★★★★
Jake Evans
Twitter Jake_Evans1609
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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