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 the 4th of December 2025, as the cold moon rose, evil spirits and terrifying creatures lingered in the darkness. In rural Derbyshire, the full moon welcomed in the premiere of The Winster Werewolf – Amberwell Productions' new short, the fourth in their six-part ‘creature anthology’.
Sarah Hughes is a Midlands-based actress & TV, film and SFX artist is about to begin production on her first ever full feature film.
As part of our Midlands on the Move features, we speak to Carl Staples, a Midlands storyboarder and filmmaker with a wide range of regional experience and we found out more about Carl's work, his experience in the Midlands and what he's taken with him as his career developed...
Our resident local film critic Jacob Holmes headed off beyond the region's boundaries to the BFI London Film Festival. In our latest Midlands on the Move feature, Jacob shares some helpful hints for first timers