This weekend, audiences will get to see the latest Spike Lee Joint, Da 5 Bloods, debut on Netflix’s streaming library. While it’s not Lee’s first project in the streaming realm, it certainly seems to be one that’s gathering a pretty big head of steam when it comes to being hyped. And that’s only going to grow after the reviews that have landed this morning.
While this is only a smattering of the commentary that’s coming out about the film, there seems to be an air of raving acclaim at best, and constructive criticism at worst. Starting with our own Sean O’Connell, his review gave Da 5 Bloods a perfect 5 stars, with the following praise included:
A compelling treasure hunt story, with an extremely powerful undercurrent that’s provided by the history of our country, and the deep scars of war.
Meanwhile, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, a reviewer who also gave the film a perfect 5 out of 5, had some interesting notes on the varying tones of the film:
It’s an outrageous action painting of a film, splattering moods, genres, ideas and archive clips all over the screen – with many a Brechtian-vaudeville alienation.
On the lighter end of the scale, The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday enjoyed Da 5 Bloods as well, rating it a 3 out of 4, and providing this caveat:
Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ may be flawed, but it arrives at a time when it feels urgent
Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri gave Da 5 Bloods a pretty high evaluation himself, going as far as to make a pretty big claim about where the movie sits in the pantheon of Lee’s work:
Pulling us out of our comfort zone has been part of Spike Lee’s project since the earliest days of his career. Da 5 Bloods is his agit-prop action movie. … It is one of the greatest films Spike Lee has ever made.
Rounding out this handful of reviews for Da 5 Bloods, critic Clarisse Loughrey from The Independent had a 3 out of 5 rating, with an overall positive experience. However, there was a catch, as she singled out the following concern with the overall film:
Da 5 Bloods is so busy with ideas, thoughts, and passions that, at times, it feels like it’s drowning in them.
Spike Lee has always been known as a passionate filmmaker with an equally motivated base. While his works over the years have ranged in reactions elicited from the press, he continues to be a visionary filmmaker, and that’s something that has to be respected regardless of the result. Thankfully, it currently looks like Da 5 Bloods might be one of Spike Lee’s more highly evaluated efforts.
We’ll see how the public reacts to Da 5 Bloods, when it premieres this Friday on Netflix.
