Da 5 Bloods (2020) Review or Da One Sided

Hello guys and welcome back for another round of movie reviews, quarantine edition, with Movie Nerd, a place where you can be nerdy about movies, even in a pandemic:)))

I heard about this movie mainly by accident but I knew that it was a new Spike Lee joint and I had to check it out. I saw it and I was a bit uncomfortable with how Spike Lee choosed to tell the story of the 5, well 4 actually, veteran soldiers from the Vietnam war and I will tell you why I was uncomfortable.

Before I do that, a bit of a synopsis for you guys: The plot follows a group of aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen commander, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there.

Well, we all know about the case of George Fletcher and how he was killed by the police so, it's a bit of a coincidence that this movie just so happened to be released on Netflix exactly after a short period of time. I was uncomfortable by the way Spike Lee told the story because it is told only from the perspective of these black American veterans and that's it. I am not racist and I do support Black Lives Matter, because they really do and I am not looking to start some sort of political debate here, it's just how I felt from the way the story was told. It was only told from one side, the other side not even getting the tiny bit of a chance to respond back. Leaving the fact that it is to one sided, it also hits you in the head with that fact every single chance it gets.

Getting that out of the way, the movie has some good parts as well. The performances from the actors are great, they feel real and very emotional, the camera work is astonishing, with some camera angles and some imagery that can both shock and aww you. It's rated R so expect some gruesome and violence scenes because there are such scenes, one scene in particular springs to mind that really took me by surprise on how visceral, intense and real it felt and it also changed the atmosphere of the movie completely, from serenity to downright horror and misery. It did a complete 180 or, in this case, it could have been a 360.

It's also good a bit of a hummor, some comedic little pieces sprinkled along the ride, just to ease up the tension a little bit, which it works.

Overall, it is a movie about the Vietnam war, told in another light and differently but, like I said, I cannot go over how very one sided this movie is. It maybe is the perfect time for this movie to have come out or maybe it was just timed to come out at this exact moment. What I can say is that a lot of energy and ambition was put into making this movie, that definitely has or will have an impact. It's not actually about the Vietnam was but it's actually about the fight that it is currently going on today. 7/10

OK guys, that was my review for this one. Next up, the, again, disaster that it is Artemis Fowl, curtesy of Disney+. Until then, take care, stay safe, stay clean, stay movie nerdy and keep on reviewing!