Da 5 Bloods Creates a Maximalist Experience That Is Timely, Not Timeless

Experiencing Da 5 Bloods within the purview of a currently protest-ravaged and utterly divided United States is a unique cinematic experience that astounds the senses while simultaneously muddying the political goals of the film.

Spike Lee’s tale of four Black veterans returning to Vietnam to recover the remains of their fallen “brother,” as well as a long lost CIA gold cache, engrosses the audience in its heat-drenched, racially charged, and delirious world that constantly breaks the fourth wall to remind us of the Black experience within the United States and how it hasn’t changed one iota from the time of the civil rights movement.

As the self proclaimed “Bloods” Paul, Otis, Eddie, and Melvin journey through the jungle feverishly searching for their fallen squad leader Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman), we slowly become a member of their party, not only falling victim to the hysteria of the Vietnamese landscape, but also experiencing the harsh reality of how the Vietnam War has upended America’s traditional sense of idealism.

Spike Lee has always been a filmmaker who has rejected cinematic subtlety, opting for maximalist fairs that probe the audience into questioning their biases and complicity in the wrongs that have unfolded over the course of modern American history.

This approach is best highlighted in Lee’s magnum opus Do The Right Thing, where racial tensions flared during the hottest day of the year, bringing to light the fragility of American society and the work that still has to be done in realizing the American dream. Lee once again brings the hot climate and simmering racial tension in his latest joint, but the effect is less powerful.

Sigel’s lens harrowingly captures the lush and unforgiving wilderness of Vietnam, which further envelops the audience in the uneasy and simmering mood Lee aims to capture.

Lee transformed the original script from a traditional adventure featuring a predominantly white cast to a narrative and documentary hybrid that focuses on the Black experience, not only throughout the Vietnam War, but through all of American history.

This split between being a traditional narrative film and a documentary presenting a thesis does not prove harmonious; the resulting feature does not successfully merge the two mediums. Instead, the film comes across as an experience that does not know what it wants to be.  It’s perpetually caught within a whirlwind of ideas that makes the film appear as if it’s suffering from an identity crisis. Lee comes across as a director who was unsure of the film he was trying to make. It’s as if he decided to throw all his ideas into a blender, concocting a drink that — at times — pleases the palate, but mostly numbs the senses.

Lee’s script features mind-boggling scenes that shift from impactful melodrama to meandering low-fi clips of Trump conventions. Lee hopes these moments come across as witty, but instead they leave the audience in a pretentious and alienating haze. The screenplay’s shortcomings are not just limited to its plot structure. Lee uncharacteristically incorporates stilted dialogue that hinders and diminishes the emotional impact of the film. These stiff and wooden moments are especially noticeable in scenes featuring the only non-Black characters, where the dialogue delivery of the white and Vietnamese characters feels wholly alien and cold.

However, Lee’s direction is not a total misfire. With the help of cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, many moments feature great mise-en-scènes that profoundly immerse us in the complicated emotions each member of the “Bloods” is experiencing.

Lee cleverly creates situations that force the viewer to empathize with the characters and hope that they get out of the jungle alive. Furthermore, Sigel’s lens harrowingly captures the lush and unforgiving wilderness of Vietnam, which further envelops the audience in the uneasy and simmering mood Lee aims to capture.

Additionally, the film features many aspect ratio changes when alternating between present and past timelines. These aspect ratio shifts have historically been very disorienting and distracting, but Lee adds a level of gravitas and style to them so that their abrupt nature never overtly stands out to the audience. However, these moments are not perfect. Lee chose to keep the aged actors makeup-free and did not use digital de-aging when transitioning back to the Vietnam war, and this creates instances that are unintentionally hilarious instead of emotionally grounding.

Da 5 Bloods shines the most in the performances it brings to play. While most of the main cast is serviceable and at times truly great, the real shining star of the film is Delroy Lindo. His performance is unbelievably manic and wholly awe-inspiring.

Lindo has been a mainstay in Hollywood since the 1990s, but he never got the chance to truly shine. With all the faults Da 5 Bloods has, Lindo’s expressive and unwavering turn as a veteran who still has lasting scars from the war more than makes up for them.

In an unreal fourth wall-breaking scene, Lindo’s Paul breaks into a monologue, while traversing the scathing Vietnamese jungle, indicting America for its penchant for sending its minorities to fight for them. It’s a scene that will more than likely overshadow the legacy of the entire film, and it serves as a strong case for why Lindo is more than deserving of that long overdue Academy Award.

Da 5 Bloods fails to become more than the sum of its parts but mostly succeeds in the entertainment department. It’s a film mired in a conflicted and meandering screenplay where the pretentious direction indicates that Lee is in dire need of something simpler and more grounded to bring him back to his earlier greatness. Lee’s new cinematic endeavour is an experience that is timely, but falls very short of being timeless.

Photo courtesy of Todd Kay/Pixabay

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