Review: 'Like (Spike) Lee’s fabulous ‘70s-set 'BlacKkKlansman' two years ago, 'Bloods' weaves history lessons with gripping performances and a timely, thoughtful narrative, in this instance nodding to the Black Lives Matter era.'
Before Lee introduces his Bloods, he opens with the words of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, as well as footage of riots and protests from the late 1960s provoked by the conflict in Vietnam. Lee makes clear that black American soldiers have a complicated history in our wars, especially the Civil War and World War II, where they were promised freedoms but instead found brutality and inequality at home.
In flashbacks, the soldiers live the grisly horrors of a war they don't really want to fight and also receive news of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and the civil rights battles raging in America. With loyalties shifting inward, they bury the gold and vow to return one day. Now, as old men in need of a reunion, the Bloods are back to get their “reparations” in that same jungle.
Weaving in elements of slow-burn mystery and old-guy comedy, “Da 5 Bloods” leans into an epic nature and pays homage to cinematic adventures past, riffing on an infamous line from “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and borrowing Wagner's"Ride of the Valkyries" from “Apocalypse Now.” However, the sweetest sounds on the"Bloods" soundtrack come from Terence Blanchard's heroic score and some Marvin Gaye tunes.
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