Jasper Pääkkönen as Lauri Törni/Larry Thorne... Has he now become the token white guy for Spike Lee?
I think some of the praise this film is receiving is somehow politically and ideologically motivated -- because this really was a mess. Mind you -- I thought Blackkklansman was really good movie, and would have deserved Oscar over Green Book. But this is just a clumsy piece of cinema, where nothing seems to work coherently, much of the dialogue is just absurd nonsense, and the plot is straight juvenile with some political stuff glued on top with really bad glue. I wouldn't mind Delroy Lindo getting some Award for this, but otherwise this was clear miss from Lee.
Again, I'm cool with folks not liking a movie. Just don't reduce positive opinions to a mere political endorsement. There's a lot here to like beyond the politics. (I'm actually kinda tempted to argue that Lee has made his version of a Tarantino movie here ... but I think I want to see it again to see if some of my thoughts hold water ...)
Spike Lee and his politics are intrinsically linked. Like Chris Nolan and screwy timelines. Like Tarantino and women's feet. Like Tom Hardy and mumbling. Complaints about the presence of his politics or even more specifically viewers reacting favorably to his politics seem a little silly to me.
I agree with Vice's political POV but thought that movie was dogshit. I agree with Aaron Sorkin but for the life of me I can't figure out how he writes with his head planted so firmly up his own ass about half the time (you ever watch The Newsroom? BARF). Michael Moore is a sucky blowhard eventhough I tend to agree with him more often than not. I only bring these up to note that agreeing with a creator's politics and POV doesn't necessary equate to a good final product. There are probably others, but those all come to mind
I think Da 5 Bloods is one of the best things Lee has done. Is it perhaps overstuffed with story and ideas? Sure. That might be messy and jumbled for some. Totally fair. For me it was vibrant and alive. I don't mind folks disagreeing on whether or not a movie is good, especially with a divisive filmmaker like Lee, but to dismiss favorable opinions as solely being a political statement/reaction ... I draw a line there.
From a film standpoint alone I thought it was a fascinating mashup of visual quotes and references — most obviously Apocalypse Now and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. A movie lover made this movie. Lee's riffing on classic war and adventure movies but he's doing it very much his way. I've seen those old movies. I've certainly seen some of these scenes before. But I don't need or want him to recreate that. I like his version. I want his version.
I thought the entire middle stretch with the gold and mines (being vague to respect spoilers) was incredibly tense. You kinda KNOW what's coming but I was riveted nonetheless. There's a specific scene there with Lindo and his son where the script merges an obvious history/political lesson with the urgent situation that I thought was fairly brilliant. Similarly there's a reveal later in the movie about one of the characters that's completely predictable ... but it didn't lose any of its power because of that. A testament to Lee's filmmaking and the actors.
That joyful nightclub dance scene early on in the movie might be my favorite shot I've seen this year (to date). Nothing political about that. The use of the Marvin Gaye music throughout also was great, particularly late in the movie when an acapella song is used.
Again, I'm cool with folks not liking a movie. Just don't reduce positive opinions to a mere political endorsement. There's a lot here to like beyond the politics. (I'm actually kinda tempted to argue that Lee has made his version of a Tarantino movie here ... but I think I want to see it again to see if some of my thoughts hold water ...)
I am of the almost opposite opinion. I think there is little to like beyond the politics - those are mostly what kept me in [the Marvin Gaye too]. It is almost like Spike put his stamp on a QT script and handed it to Adam Sandler to direct. The cinematography was not good. The flashback scenes were laughable - I don't think they tried to make them look younger until the end. The editing was all over the place. The mix of film media styles was a student project version of Natural Born Killers. Some of the references were so on the nose it was painful - Flight of the Valkyries? "We don't need no badges"? Really? As if the whole searching for gold bit didn't get it across? I don't want to point out how bad some of the acting is, because I like the 4 main guys and Jean Reno (not so much the son or any other supporting actors), and think they weren't presented well. On and on... give it a few script revisions and a better director and it really could have been much more than it was.
I disagree (of course), but certainly understand. Some of the references are absolutely on the nose but that didn't bother me. Mileage will vary for folks, obviously.
I also wasn't bothered by them not looking noticably younger in the flashbacks. The charitable reading is the old chestnut about memory — they're remembering themselves as they are more than as they were or at least envisioning a not quite accurate version of their past selves. Meanwhile Norman is idealized and perfect. That's not exactly subtle either but it worked for me. The uncharitable reading is that the budget was tight and maybe after The Irishman fiasco they just didn't want to cast younger actors or de-age them with CGI.
Definitely gotta disagree here.
If you endorse the message behind a movie, it’s human nature to gloss over it’s shortcomings.
I know I’ve done that plenty of times.
However, while I believe in what Lee is trying to say, the film was so poorly done that I can’t pretend it was some masterpiece.
I am of the almost opposite opinion. I think there is little to like beyond the politics - those are mostly what kept me in [the Marvin Gaye too]. It is almost like Spike put his stamp on a QT script and handed it to Adam Sandler to direct. The cinematography was not good. The flashback scenes were laughable - I don't think they tried to make them look younger until the end. The editing was all over the place. The mix of film media styles was a student project version of Natural Born Killers. Some of the references were so on the nose it was painful - Flight of the Valkyries? "We don't need no badges"? Really? As if the whole searching for gold bit didn't get it across? I don't want to point out how bad some of the acting is, because I like the 4 main guys and Jean Reno (not so much the son or any other supporting actors), and I forgive them for not being presented well. On and on... give it a few script revisions and a better director and it really could have been much more than it was.