In these very trying and testing times for us all that has seen many cinema's, Odeon's, and movie theatres around the world close their doors for the foreseeable future because of the escalating threat of the COVID-19 Coronavirus taking an ever increasing hold on the world at large, many film and television productions halted in their tracks indefinitely, and new film releases pushed back to some future date when some sense of movie going normalcy is expected to resume, I have, needless to say, had to adapt to this new world order. And so with my usual Reviews of the latest cinematic releases being curtailed, instead I will post my Review of the latest release movies showing on Netflix until such time as the regular outing to my local multiplex or independent theatre can be reinstated.
In the last few weeks then, a number of new feature films have landed at Netflix - of which I review as below
'Da 5 Bloods' which went live on the streaming service on 12th June and which I saw from the comfort of my own home on Monday 15th June.
This latest Spike Lee Joint
'DA 5 BLOODS' comes from the acclaimed Director, who also Co-Produces and Co-Writes and was intended to be premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival before the world was gripped by COVID-19. Instead of then being shown at a select number of theatres soon thereafter, Netflix aired it in mid-June, to largely universal critical acclaim and ranking at the No. 1 spot on the streaming service in its first weekend following release. The film cost in the vicinity of US$40M to make - making it one of Spike Lee's most expensive movies.
The film opens up with a montage of images showing civil unrest, police brutality throughout mostly the '60's and '70's with black activists (Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Mohammed Ali) speaking out publicly about racial and cultural discrimination, the role of black soldiers in the Vietnam War and how during both WWII and the Vietnam War black American soldiers were fighting for their freedom. And yet they are still oppressed, still victimised, still discriminated against, still shackled by the white man, and far from free. We then open up to footage of a small squad of five black African American soldiers riding in a helicopter during the Vietnam War. There is the squad leader Norman 'Stormin' Norman' Holloway (Chadwick Boseman), Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Eddie (Norm Lewis) who affectionally call themselves the 'Bloods'. Their helicopter, in a remote part of the jungle, comes under fire by the Viet Cong, who ultimately take down the chopper forcing it to crash land. A fierce fire fight ensues but the Bloods fend off the insurgents killing most of them, while those remaining flee.
Their reasons for being there was to secure a crash site for a downed CIA aeroplane and to recover its cargo of gold bullion intended as a means of payment to the locals for battling the Viet Cong. Sitting on the chest of US gold bars, Norman speaks to his fellow Bloods about the often inhuman treatment of African Americans at the hands of the US Government throughout history, and how this is their collective opportunity to help right some of those wrongs. And so they decide to bury the gold, and return at a not too distant time, to recover it. Subsequently, however, in another Viet Cong attack, Norman is killed and as a result of a US napalm attack on the area any distinguishing landmarks are obliterated rendering their future search practically useless.
We then fast forward almost fifty years to the current day, at Ho Chi Minh City, where we meet Paul, Otis, Melvin and Eddie as they check into their hotel. After renewing lifelong albeit distant relationships, the four go out eating, drinking and clubbing in a very different city to the one they remember the last time they were there serving in the US Army. The next day they hire Vinh (Johnny Tri Nguyen), a local guide who agrees to take them up river to an area where a recent landslide had uncovered the tail of a crashed plane. Armed with this information, they hope to recover the fallen and still missing body of Norman, and to reclaim their stash of gold in the process too.
Otis visits his former Vietnamese girlfriend Tien (Le Y Lan) who has seemingly carved out a successful export business for herself, and she points him in the direction of a Frenchman who may be interested in buying their gold, and helping them realise its monetary value so they can access the funds once they're home. His name is Desroche (Jean Reno). Otis also comes to learn over dinner with Tien, that her daughter Michon (Sandy Huong Pham) is in fact their daughter whom he never knew about. When Paul gets back to the hotel he also discovers that his son David (Jonathan Majors) has secretly followed him, putting more of a strain on their long standing fractured relationship. The Bloods agree, reluctantly, to allow David to join them in their quest, but he will not share in any of the spoils.
Having agreed to a deal with Desroche, the next day Vinh leads the Bloods and David up river to a drop off point. Passing the small river craft of a floating market Paul gets into a very heated argument with a local who tries to sell him a live chicken, and who seemingly won't take no for an answer. The argument quickly escalates out of control, with Paul having to be physically restrained by the others, before the local departs hurling various expletives back. Paul admits that he suffers from PTSD and frequently sees ghosts at night in his dreams. He also blames himself for Norman's death.
Resting up for the night at a riverside hotel, David gets in to a conversation with a French woman - Hedy Bouvier (Melanie Thierry) who four years ago founded an organisation to clear landmines and unexploded bombs from the countryside of Vietnam. She is there with her colleagues Seppo (Jasper Paakkonen) and Simon (Paul Walter Hauser) who both view the American with suspicion and disdain, although David flirts with Hedy.
Vinh drops off the Bloods and tells them that he'll meet them at a designated meeting spot in a few days, and if they're late, no worries, he'll wait for them. During the first night, sleeping out in the open under the stars, Melvin while searching for bug spray uncovers a pistol from Otis's backpack while he is sleeping, and hands it to Paul. The pistol was given to Otis by Tien, and waking Otis and asking him to explain, the group become suspicious of Tien's (and therefore Otis's) motives. Paul hangs on to the pistol. The next day, while taking a break, David walks down a hillside to take a crap. Armed with a toilet roll and a shovel, he begins digging a hole in the ground. His shovel connects with something metallic, and digging it up, reveals a gold bar. Armed with a metal detector, they locate the majority of the gold bars strewn across the hillside and buried just beneath the surface. Norm's body must be close by. When the metal detectors sets off another signal, Paul starts to dig and reveals a buried rifle, and then a set of dog tags still wrapped around the neck of its owner - Norman. The group kneel and pray together for their fallen squad leader.
On the hike out, with each man carrying a stash of gold bars in their back packs, they come to a clearing to rest up. The group start arguing over sharing of the gold with Paul now saying that David should have a fair share. Eddie attempts to quell the argument, and inadvertently steps on a landmine. Both his arms and legs have been blown clean off, and Otis, who is also a medic, rushes to his side, but he quickly bleeds out and is dead within a minute. In the ensuing melee, David steps on a landmine too, but it fails to trigger. At this point, Hedy, Seppo and Simon show up. Paul, hatches a plan to yank David off the landmine with a sudden jolt of a rope tied around his chest, a trick he had seen done successfully during his earlier wartime service. The rescue of David is successful and straightaway afterwards Paul pulls the gun on the three interlopers fearful they will call the authorities and report Eddie's death and their stash of gold bullion. David is forced to tie up Hedy, Seppo and Simon. During the night, Seppo escapes into the undergrowth, and the remaining Bloods confiscate the gun from Paul.
The group make it to the meeting point where Vinh is waiting. Within a short time two trucks drive up with armed gunmen, demanding that the group hand over the gold, which is rightfully theirs, in exchange for releasing Seppo whom they have captured overnight. A fire fight unfolds, and as Seppo flees he steps on a landmine is killed instantly, and David is shot in the leg and incapacitated. The Vietnamese insurgents are all killed off except for one who drives off in a truck to round up his mates and return. The group assume that Desroche has double crossed them, Otis suggests calling Tien for assistance, Paul in turn accuses Tien of setting them up, and Vinh suggests hiding out at a nearby abandoned temple to better protect themselves from the inevitable returning gunmen.
Any trust that Paul had in his little band of brothers is now vanquished as he feels betrayed and let down by everyone, including his own son. He takes his share of the gold and heads out into the jungle alone, determined to make it on his own and not to share his stash of the gold with anyone. As he walks away he lets out a loud wail and recites Psalm 23 Verse 4 from the Lord is my Shepherd. He seemingly becomes increasingly unhinged, ranting to himself as he cuts his way through the undergrowth with a machete, all the while now being actively pursued by four gunmen. He gets bitten by a snake, falls down an embankment and his back pack gets stuck dangling from a bamboo branch hanging well out of his reach. He decides to cut his losses and continues to walk through a riverbed leaving his back pack containing his wealth in gold bars swinging from a branch. Melvin and Otis meanwhile offer Vinh, Hedy and Simon a share of their gold for their trouble.
As Paul rambles onward in his own little world of rage, he has a vision of Norman who reminds him that it was he who in fact shot and killed him, with a single shot to the stomach from his machine gun. But Norman goes on to qualify that he recognises that his shooting was an accident on Paul's part during an ambush from an enemy sniper. The pair embrace as Norman tells him to let go of his anger and his guilt, as Paul sobs. The four gunmen soon after catch up with Paul, and force him to dig his own grave in the soft sand. Paul, now guilt free and seemingly without a care in the world, sings as he digs as the gunmen demand to know where the gold is. Paul refuses to tell them, at which point each gunman opens fire with their semi-automatic weapons and unload on Paul, riddling him with bullets.
Meanwhile, back at the temple Desroche and his gun toting henchmen arrive. He advises Otis that Tien was innocent in all of this, and orders them to hand over the gold. Otis and Hedy carry out a back pack and place it at Desroche's feet. It is revealed to contain rocks, at which point Melvin and Vinh open fire, ultimately dispensing with all the gunmen. Desroche tries to make an exit in a 4WD but the driver is shot through the windscreen and the vehicle upends itself landing on its side. Desroche clambers out armed with a pistol and a hand grenade. He shoots Otis and attempts to finish him off with the grenade which he tosses in Otis' direction. Melvin sees this and jumps on the grenade sacrificing himself. As Desroche stands over an injured Otis pointing a gun at his head, a shot rings out from the temple as David takes down Desroche with a single bullet.
In the final analysis, Vinh helps Otis cash out the gold. Melvin's widow is given his share, and Eddie's share is given to a chapter of the Black Lives Matter organisation. Hedy and Simon donate their shares to her mines and bombs clearing company in Seppo's name. Norman's remains are finally brought home with full military honours to his family. Otis visits Tien and begins to forge a new relationship with his daughter Michon. David reads a letter from Paul, which was given to Otis to give to David in the event of his death. The letter states that while he was far from the perfect father and that David's upbringing was far from loving, he tells him that he will always love him.
Well Spike Lee has done it again with
'Da 5 Bloods'! Here he delivers a film that is both timely and timeless in its portrayal of the plight and the fight of black African Americans for acceptance, recognition and equality - a fight as relevant under the Johnson and Nixon administrations of the '60's and '70's Vietnam War years as it is under the Trump administration fifty years on. This film packs a punch on many levels with Lee never being one to shy away from delving into the racial and cultural discrimination at play in the USA, or voicing his opinions of political leaders or events in history, or interweaving footage from key historical moments to add weight to his storyline. And that punch continues with a standout performance by Delroy Lindo whom some pundits are already lauding for Oscar contention with his portrayal of a man on the edge, suffering from PTSD, battling his own inner demons, and still at war with himself and seemingly all those around him. The supporting cast are all equally strong especially Chadwick Boseman, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Jonathan Majors who all bring an authenticity to their roles and proof positive that good stories about the Vietnam War can still be relevant in 2020. It's a mash up of genres with the full range of emotions and humour that bind men together, violence and gore, and with nods to Francis Ford Coppola, John Huston, Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris even and Lee's old alma mater Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. An engrossing relevant film and an entertaining watch even at a two and half hour running time that never leaves you wanting.
'Da 5 Bloods' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
