Review of Da 5 Bloods (2020) by Stefan1234 — 16 Jun 2020
I am truly shocked at how bad this film is. It is a Western set in Vietnam with the black GIs as the good guys, the protagonists, returning to “’Nam” to steal gold bullion that doesn’t belong to them, and a group of Vietnamese as the bad guys who are trying to stop them and either hand it over to the Vietnamese Government or keep it for themselves.
It’s unclear. In any case the storyline makes no sense as a moral story. True, Spike Lee does a bit of educating about the American war in Vietnam: referencing Lt Calley and the My Lai massacre with newsreel footage, for instance, giving voice to contemporary Vietnamese feelings of anger, and informing the audience that Martin Luther King Jr.
opposed the war. But it’s hardly sympathetic while casting Vietnamese as the **** who kill the central character, Paul (Delroy Lindo) and get gunned down themselves. The shoot-out at the end with Desroche (Jean Reno) accompanied by more nameless armed Vietnamese, who are all definitely bad guys, with the Bloods group is confusing (thanks Wikipedia for explaining what happened) as some of the Bloods were pretty indistinguishable anyway.
Paul was well-drawn, however he gave not one, but two, Shakespearean soliloquies in quick succession, before getting bumped off, which was undoubtedly a very unsubtle bid for an Oscar nomination. The sub-plot of the unlikely loving reunion between Otis (Clarke Peters) and his daughter, Michon (Sandy Hương Phạm) with his former girlfriend, an ex-Saigon prostitute, was too unreal even by Hollywood standards.
Michon would be at least in her mid-forties, probably with children of her own, had she been born around 1975, when the Americans left Vietnam. Here she was portrayed as a young woman, looking no older than 29.
The simple story need not have been set in Vietnam. It could have been anywhere, without the political trimmings. I doubt the film will be welcomed by international landmine charities who are shown accepting ripped off gold for their cause, not to mention Black Lives Matter, neither of whom should have been made accomplices.
I did not buy Hanoi Hannah, but that was a minor problem. I’m afraid I don’t think Martin Luther King would have approved.
This review of Da 5 Bloods (2020) was written by Stefan1234 on 16 Jun 2020.
Da 5 Bloods has generally received positive reviews.
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