Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Four African-American Vietnam veterans return to Vietnam. They are in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. These heroes battle forces of humanity and nature while confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of the Vietnam War.
Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods is a distinctive and ambitious entry in the Vietnam War genre, blending treasure-hunt adventure with searing commentary on Black American sacrifice, racial injustice, and generational trauma. The cinematography is a genuine standout — Lee deliberately shifts aspect ratios and film stocks between timelines, creating a visually inventive layering of past and present. The premise and thematic voice are singular enough to earn high Novelty: few films merge Apocalypse Now echoes with Black liberation politics and a Treasure of the Sierra Madre-style moral unraveling. The acting is solid but uneven — Delroy Lindo's tortured MAGA-hat-wearing patriarch is a powerhouse performance, while the ensemble work is serviceable but inconsistent. The plot is overlong and structurally messy, cramming in too many tonal registers and subplots without fully resolving them. The ending, in particular, feels rushed and emotionally unsatisfying — it scrambles to tie together threads in a way that undercuts the film's more powerful earlier passages.