Quarantine TV — Spike Lee’s ‘Bloods’ not his finest effort
For more than 30 years, Spike Lee has been making movies about African-Americans who struggle and fight to have their voices heard.
“Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” “Get on the Bus” and “Miracle at St. Anna” are just a few of his films that showcase strong Black characters realizing the deck has been stacked against them their whole lives. Lee’s new Netflix-only film, “Da 5 Bloods,” is a flawed if respectable addition to his legacy.
Secret mission in Vietnam
“The Wire” alums Clarke Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr. join Delroy Lindo and Norm Lewis as four Vietnam vets returning to the jungles for the first time since their final tour of duty. Their publicized reason is retrieving the remains of the 5th Blood, Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman). Their secret reason for the trip is to find the gold bars their superior officers had tasked them with delivering before their plane went down.
Before their trek, we learn a little about who the men have become over the last half-century. Paul (Lindo) is a paranoid MAGA-backer with a son (Jonathan Majors) for whom he cares little. Eddie (Lewis) has made a sizable amount of money, enough to fund the trip. Otis (Peters) and Melvin (Whitlock), like their friends, are often haunted by the man they left behind.
The acting and directing are superb, as usual in Lee’s films. The writing and editing, however, leave much to be desired. The film clocks in at well more than two hours, but it still feels like shortcuts were taken. The plot telegraphs several would-be suspenseful things, and I found character motivations difficult to comprehend. It seems like several plot devices exist solely to get the characters to the cliché “final battle.”
Now is the right time to tell as many Black stories as possible, and Lee is more qualified than most to do so. Yet, it might be best to check out some of his older films instead of “Bloods.” C
Quarantine TV
“Plot Against America” (HBO). From the co-creators of “The Wire” comes a mini-series with eerie parallels to 2020. In this alt-history tale, hero Charles Lindbergh runs on an anti-war ticket against FDR in 1940. Millions fall for his rhetoric, but his suspected ties to the Nazis may be the undoing of a New York Jewish family and millions like them.
“Dark” (Netflix). From Germany we get the third and final season of this mind-bending show. Does the nuclear power plant in a small town cause people to go missing? If so, where do they end up? Every nuance is layered with important information. Do yourself a favor, deal with the subtitles and German audio because the dubbing is awful.
Aussie Rules Football (FS1 and FS2). The networks aired a few weeks of this sport back in March, and now it has returned. You can find this fun mix of football, soccer and rugby on Friday and Saturday nights.
Jeff Mellinger is a screen writer and film buff. He holds a BA in Film Studies and an MFA in film production. He lives in Concord. Email comments to editor@pioneerpublishers.com.