Da 5 Bloods

During the Vietnam War, five African American soldiers lead by Norman (Chadwick Boseman) seize a cache of gold from a crashed CIA plane and conspire to keep it as repayment for injustices they have faced. They bury the gold so they can retrieve it later, but their markers are destroyed and Norman is killed in the combat that follows. Decades later, the four survivors – Paul, Otis, Eddie, and Melvin – return to Vietnam to retrieve the gold and Norman’s remains. Otis (Clarke Peters) reconnects with an old girlfriend, Tien, who puts the group in contact with a French businessman (Jean Reno), who is willing to buy the gold from them. They are also joined by a guide, Vinh (Johnny Tri Nguyen), and by Paul’s estranged son David (Jonathan Majors). Internal tensions threaten to tear the group apart if mine-laced terrain and opportunistic mercenaries don’t do so first.

Spike Lee’s first Netflix film is ambitious and messy, blending elements of a war film and heist film with his usual sociopolitical commentary. The crossgenre combination doesn’t sink Da 5 Bloods – if anything, it’s a selling point – but a bloated run time, tonal whiplash, and stylistic inconsistencies detract from a powerfully acted and timely film.

While the same cannot be said of the stereotyped supporting roles, most of the leads do a phenomenal job. Lindo makes Paul uneasily sympathetic: despite him being an angry xenophobe and terrible father, he’s racked with both guilt and PTSD and is painfully aware of his own mortality. Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr., veterans of The Wire, do solid work as Otis and Melvin as well, adding tension and camaraderie as needed. Only Eddie isn’t quite up to par: Norm Lewis is about a decade too young for the role and overacts when given any dialogue almost as if to compensate. On the other hand, Boseman radiates charismatic leadership during his brief screentime.

Da 5 Bloods weaves together past and present and, like previous Lee films, uses archival footage and historical cut-aways. That much works to give the movie a coherent message and sense of purpose, but there is a lot here that is simply off. The war-era flashback scenes are shot in 16-mm film for a retro look, but the authenticity is undone by having the 20-something soldiers still played by 60-something actors who look every bit their age. At times, Da 5 Bloods borrows documentary techniques such as a traveling handheld camera or Paul offering an up-close confessional/monologue. At other times, however, it both looks and plays like an 80s/90s B movie. Despite the characters being named for The Temptations and despite the film being scored by a jazz trumpeter (Terence Blanchard), the soundtrack borrows heavily from Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.

These inconsistencies and a sense of ending fatigue can make Da 5 Bloods a bit of a chore to get through at times, but it has enough powerful moments to make it worthwhile.