Da 5 Bloods

Five years ago, the New York Times reported on how reconciliation might truly be taking place in Vietnam, as Vietnamese veterans of the "American War" sat and joined their former enemies (U.S. veterans) while eating chili and chicken wings to celebrate the Fourth of July. Almost 90 percent of young Vietnamese (at least as of 2015) have a favorable opinion of the United States, with many studying in the U.S., while many U.S. veterans have moved back to the country they once fought, often trying to help with charitable causes, like to help the victims of Agent Orange effects. "We have closed the door on the past," one of the Vietnamese veterans says.

Da 5 Bloods, the newest film directed by Spike Lee, focuses on four U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War; for them, the door to the past is not yet closed. They, too, find themselves back in Vietnam, now cosmopolitan and entirely different than when they left. Two former Vietcong members buy them some drinks. The four strut across the dance floor (all pretty well) and argue about Trump. (Paul, the veteran played by Delro Lindo, wears a MAGA throughout the film.) They raise their glasses in a toast with the former VC. "The American War is over," they declare. All four are together, and they will soon be joined by a fifth. "Amen," they say as they cheer.

So why are they back in Vietnam? The veterans–Paul (Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.)—fought together in the war under their squad leader, "Stormin' Norman" (played in flashback scenes by Chadwick Boseman). Norman was their Malcolm and their Martin, we are told. With Norman, they learned a lot about politics and history, like how Crispus Attucks was the first American to die in the Revolutionary War. Without Norman, though, they are cast adrift in modern Vietnam. Despite a happy initial reunion, they head back into the jungle and things start to go awry. The impetus for going back to the battle scenes is to retrieve literal treasure they buried there during the war. The five were under instructions to provide gold to the Lahu people on behalf of the U.S. government as payment for helping them fight the Vietcong, but they decided to bury it and retrieve it years later to help their community.

The flashback scenes don't serve the film well, mostly due to that this is Lee's first war film. Also at fault is the composer, Terence Blanchard, whose music is mostly fine throughout the rest of Da 5 Bloods, yet odd and distracting in these battle scenes. So, too, is the fact that Lee keeps Lindo, Peters, Lewis, and Whitlock as they are with minimal makeup effects. There are no Irishman-esque de-aging effects in this Netflix film. It's neat at first, but it becomes a distraction. But fundamentally, the problem is that directing war scenes is not Lee's strength. None of these flashback scenes are interesting. He pays his respects to Apocalypse Now and Platoon, but doesn't seem to have learned anything from them.  

Just when you think Da 5 Bloods is veering into the realm of being too predictable, there are numerous surprises thrown your way. Some may cause you to roll your eyes and say, "Oh, come on." Indeed, the kind of film it ends up becoming is wildly different than the kind of film it started in the beginning, with the final product feeling like a hybrid of Richard Linklater and Quentin Tarantino. This may or may not contribute to the overall clunkiness of the film's pace. The ungainly tempo continues into the epilogue of the film, which is often the most memorable moments of the films Lee directs, like Malcolm X and BlackKklansman. At first it seems that will be the case with Da 5 Bloods, but then it kind of shifts around a bit and it draws some conclusions that seem misplaced.

The film itself doesn't retain its initial excitement. It's a worthwhile ride, with other noteworthy performances by a diverse cast that includes Jonathan Majors, Johnny Trí Nguyen, Mélanie Thierry, Jasper Pääkkönen, Paul Walter Hauser, Veronica Ngo, and Jean Reno. But you definitely owe it to yourself to watch it to witness the acting of Delroy Lindo. Lindo goes all in for his portrayal of this Trump-supporting veteran who sees ghosts and struggles through PTSD that was never treated. It is his reaction to these situations and his inability to heal deep personal wounds that really start to complicate the group's efforts to be successful. Despite what they tell themselves in the beginning, the war is in fact not yet over, at least for Paul, and Lindo makes all the right moves to demonstrate it. The other characters are given arches, but none of them are as intriguing as Paul's. If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn't hate Black artists so much, he would be considered the frontrunner for Best Actor at this point. Let's all hope he bucks history and gets it.