Review: "Da 5 Bloods" is a Kaleidoscopic Achievement in the Vietnam War Genre

Over half a century later, many would think that cinema has run its course with the Vietnam War. After all, who could top the masterpieces of harrowing achievement like Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter? Even on the home front, you had films like Coming Home exploring the impact of soldiers when they returned to a divided nation, unable to appreciate their service because the war itself was divisive. This war in particular has inspired so many different takes due to the uncertain nature of events, where it was clear that a president was prolonging it for the sake of pity votes. 

Though there is one group that hasn't really gotten their due. The Black soldiers who fought the war were placed into an especially interesting situation because it wasn't a straightforward attack. In the big picture, they had no skin in the game. This explains why figures like Muhammad Ali famously said that he wasn't going overseas, demanding others to see the racial war being fought at home. It is the area where Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods takes place, eager to explore the legacy of a community who fought because they were told only to be left with even less respect than their white peers. It's an epic that comes with as much eagerness and frustration as you'd expect, but that doesn't make it any less urgent and timely, proving that there are still stories that need to be shared from the war.

It's Early June, Have We Already Seen Any Serious Oscar Contenders?

There's no denying that the upcoming Oscar season is going to be a very special one. While every year brings with it a handful of worthy surprises, this one is framed instead by the world around it. For starters, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the shutdown of theaters and forced The Academy to allow streaming movies for the first (and probably only) time in their history. Even if we haven't yet gotten to the traditional awards season, it's interesting to ask the question: have we seen any big players yet? I'd like to think that we have, especially with the presence of such acclaimed movies like Shirley, Da 5 Bloods, and dark horse contender The King of Staten Island.

All of these films have one thing in common. They're thankfully good movies in a time when we're dried out with good-at-best titles. In fact, things are looking up in the month ahead as more streaming options give promising results. So, what does this Oscar season look like, and have we seen anything of value just yet? If we're looking at a case where theaters will be shutting back down due to an expansion of the virus, I'm willing to bet that we have a handful of things already on our docket, hopefully making for one of the most exciting and off years we've ever seen.

Spike Lee Lights Up the Oscar Conversation with "Da 5 Bloods" Trailer

Scene from Da 5 Bloods

When we last left director Spike Lee, he had broken through a decades-long feud with The Academy Awards and won an Oscar for BlacKkKlansman. The film found him capable of taking his angry style and presenting in an accessible way that made audiences latch onto its subject matter of racial divides in society. Even as time has passed, he seems just as ambitious as ever, wanting to tell stories that reshape how we see black America as something more complex and interesting. Considering that everyone was eager to see what he'd do next with his first Netflix movie, many see this as a new era, where Lee will be returning to the conversation sooner than later.

Da 5 Bloods is promised to be a Vietnam War epic like no other. With few exceptions (if any), there hasn't been a war story that explores the struggles of the black experience in this way. One has to wonder what he has to say, especially since we know that he won't hold back and get as confrontational as he believes that the story needs to be. While everyone won't get to see it in a theater, it's coming very soon to light up the Oscar conversation, giving us something that prognosticators sorely need right now. From the first trailer, it feels like we got our first surefire nominee and one that could find Lee going bigger and bolder than ever before. While it has some trappings of Vietnam War movie tropes, it's still got a lot of greatness under its surface.