Review of BlacKkKlansman (2018) by Dan K — 12 Sep 2018

I may be an asshole for saying this, but Spike Lee hasn't made a decent feature film in over a decade. In fact, it's hard not to compare him to Oliver Stone. Both were militant leftist directors that arose in the 80's - a decade that openly opposed their political views. And both had trouble making a decent picture after the 90's and fell into the pitfalls of the post 9/11 nightmare our country never recovered from. But where Stone has spouted conspiracy theory nonsense and become a parody of himself, Lee made several successful documentaries and his social commentary is on the mark in the era of Trump and Black Lives Matter.

And now he finally made a theatrical release worth talking about. BlacKkKlansman loosely follows the real-life story of Ron Stallworth, an African American Colorado Springs detective who successfully infiltrated both the Black Panthers and the KKK during the early 1970's, and famously duped David Duke. Klansman is straightforward and breezy. It has plenty of Lee's trademark ironic humor without degrading into a farce. There is a fair amount of social commentary aimed at 2018 America and several didactic moments that manage to not pander or talk down to the audience. John David Washington gives a compelling performance with the right of amount of humor and desperate seriousness that matches both the tone of the film and the era. Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace are likewise amazing and deserve credit. And if it wasn't made clear that this movie is aimed at today's America, stick around for the end credits.