Da 5 Bloods

Say you want about Spike Lee's films, particularly his last few. They may be self-indulgent, and hit you over the head with their politics, but damn are they entertaining. Da 5 Bloods is too long and has too many of Lee's typical flourishes, but it's a mesmerizing example of Lee's particular genius, and is a great bookend to BlackKklansman.

The film was originally to be directed by Oliver Stone, but Lee turned into a commentary on the sacrifice of African Americans in time of war, considering they were fighting for freedoms they didn't enjoy at home. It starts  with footage of Muhammad Ali, who explained why he didn't want to fight in Vietnam--"they weren't calling me nigger," he said of the Viet Cong. "They weren't lynching me." Lee uses a host of other news clips, from footage of the war (we see the familiar site of the man being shot in the head during the Tet offensive, and the famous photo of men pointing toward the shooter at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.).

This is all part of a basic story that we've seen many times in films--men hunting for gold. Four black Vietnam vets reunite in Ho Chi Minh City. Their cover story is that they are searching for the remains of their fallen comrade, the fifth "Blood." But really they're looking for gold they confiscated during the war and buried. The film owes a lot to others like The Treasure Of the Sierra Madre (Lee even quotes the line, "We don't need no stinkin' badges!") and Kelly's Heroes.

The four men are near seventy, if you do the math. The leader is Clarke Peters, who is a diplomat when they squabble, and they do a lot of that, especially Delroy Lindo, as the angriest man among them. He is also a Trump voter, and sports a MAGA hat (Lee does not hide his disdain for our president). Lindo is surprised to find his son there, who has figured out what he is doing because Lindo used a password of 1-2-3-4 on his computer.

The four old men and one young man hump it through the jungle, and find the gold (through a whopping coincidence) but then slowly turn on each other. They are also beset by Vietnamese who think they gold should belong to them.Throw in a few workers for a charity devoted to clearing landmines and it's a pretty good story.

Like BlackKklansman, which was also a good thriller before you even consider the politics, Da 5 Bloods is a grand adventure. You start to piece together who will live and who will die (those landmines are pesky, as are snakes) and enjoy the ride. The acting is superb, particularly Lindo, who has the role of a lifetime. Also in the cast is Chadwick Boseman who is seen in flashbacks (and once as a ghost), the squad leader of the Bloods who even after close to fifty years is their inspiration.

There are times when you want to roll your eyes. There are too many coincidences (they find the gold and Boseman's remains far too easily) and a person who says he has never fired a gun before turns out to bea crack shot. Lee does not use younger actors during the flashbacks, so it's a bit odd to see these old men playing themselves at twenty. Peters discovers he fathered a child with a whore from way back when, but she looks like she's no older than forty. And then there's Lee's over use of music, with almost every foot of film scored.

But Da 5 Bloods is a memorable film. If there are any Oscars this year, and it is eligible, it should be up for some major awards, particularly Lindo, an actor I've liked in many things but has never gotten his due (Samuel L. Jackson was originally cast, and this was probably the role he was going to play, but it's hard to see him as anything now but a caricature of himself).

Of any film I've seen this year, Da 5 Bloods is the best.