Films Review: "Da 5 Bloods" (2020).

From Netflix and the director of BlacKkKlansman comes Da 5 Bloods. This war drama film directed by Spike Lee, and written by Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott, and Lee. The film tells the story of four African American Vets - Paul, Otis, Eddie, and Melvin - who return to Vietnam. Searching for the remains of their fallen Squad Leader and the promise of buried treasure, our heroes, joined by Paul's concerned son, battle forces of Man and Nature - while confronted by the lasting ravages of The Immorality of The Vietnam War.

The film was originally a spec script entitled The Last Tour by Bilson and De Meo that was set to be directed by Oliver Stone and produced by Lloyd Levin. However, in 2016, Stone dropped out. Levin then read in an interview that Lee's favorite film is The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), and thought Lee would appreciate the similar elements in the script. Lee liked the premise. In 2018, after the completion of Black KkKlansman (2018), Lee and Willmott rewrote the script to fit an African-American perspective. Samuel L. Jackson, Giancarlo Esposito, Don Cheadle and John David Washington were eyed for the lead roles, but all passed due to scheduling conflicts. In February 2019, it was announced that Netflix would distribute the film. By late March, Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, Veronica Ngo, and Chadwick Boseman were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and wrapped three months later. Filming took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as well as Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand. The film was shot on the Arri Alexa LF and Arri Alexa Mini cameras for the present day sequences, and on the Arri 416 cameras for the 1960s sequences. The latter was shot on 16 mm film, a choice Lee had to convince Netflix to allow him to do, with the modern scenes using digital film. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel came up with the idea to shoot the Vietnam sequences using the kind of camera and film stock that would have been available during the era. Unlike other films, including Netflix's The Irishman (2019), Lee had the main cast (most of whom were in their sixties) play the twenty-year-old versions of themselves in flashback sequences without the use of  de-aging technology or make-up. The film was originally scheduled to premiere out-of-competition at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, then play in theatres. However, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was ultimately released only on Netflix.

The film stars Lindo, Majors, Peters, Lewis, Whitlock Jr., Nguyễn, Thierry, Hauser, Pääkkönen, Reno, Ngo, and Boseman. A word of praise for the energetic performances by the cast. In the cast, Lee found actors who understood his methods and delivered exceptional performances.

Da 5 Bloods uses the Vietnam War to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events—and brings out some of Lee's hardest-hitting work in decades along the way.

Simon says Da 5 Bloods receives:

Also, see my review for She's Gotta Have It (2017-19).