Movie Reviews: Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Genre: War Drama  

Director: Spike Lee  

Starring: Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors, Melanie Thierry, Jean Reno, Paul Walter Hauser  

Running Time: 156 minutes  

Synopsis: Four black Vietnam War veterans (Delroy Lindo as Paul, Clarke Peters as Otis, Norm Lewis as Eddie, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Melvin) return to the country on a dual mission: find a cache of CIA gold they buried in the jungle during the war, and recover the remains of the inspirational fifth member of their group Norm (Chadwick Boseman). They are unexpectedly joined on their trek by Paul's estranged son David (Jonathan Majors). Although united by friendship, a sense of racial injustice, and wartime experiences, the group is tested by greed, mistrust, and trauma.

What Works Well: Spike Lee presents the Vietnam War experience as an epic collision between an unpopular overseas war and the continuing struggle for black rights at home. This is a sprawling journey into the past, the men's present psychology (especially Paul's PTSD) ill-equipping them to retrace hostile terrain. The country may have modernized, but not so much the jungle, where dangers from snakes to mines persist. With strong echoes of The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, greed is the most mammoth disrupter, and the seemingly tight knit group will discover that unimaginable wealth can threaten decades-long friendships forged under fire. Lee adds generous helpings of flashbacks to fill-in the men's combat-fueled backstory, as the war spills from the past into present moments of reckoning.

What Does Not Work As Well: The running time is excessive, with look-at-me editing adding to the test of endurance. Delroy Lindo's performance is powerful, but slips into over-the-top theatrics in the final act. The political preaching is of the in-your-face variety, the plot used as an unsubtle device to deliver rage-against-the-machine civics lessons.

Key Quote:

Paul: We fought in an immoral war that wasn't ours for rights we didn't have.

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Movie Review: 21 Bridges (2019)

A crime thriller, 21 Bridges is a relatively routine action flick enhanced by a good cast and slick production values.

In Brooklyn, hardened criminal Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch) and his more circumspect accomplice Michael Trujillo (Stephan James) stumble into a large haul of pure cocaine stashed in the basement of a bar. Police officers unexpectedly interrupt the robbery, and in the ensuing shootout Ray kills seven officers. Police Captain McKenna (J.K. Simmons) is furious at the loss of life in his precinct, while Ray and Michael flee with the drugs into Manhattan. 

Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) and narcotics agent Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller) are assigned to the case. Andre is the son of a slain police officer and has a trigger-happy reputation. He now orders all the bridges connecting Manhattan to the outside world closed and floods the borough with police officers. Meanwhile Ray and Michael are desperate to convert their cocaine haul into cash, and connect with money launderer Adi (Alexander Siddig). As Andre closes in on the fugitives, he starts to sense a large-scale corruption conspiracy.

The 21 bridges of the title are little more than an extraneous headline. This is a standard hunt-the-dangerous-bandits plot featuring good guys and bad guys, with a few shades of grey and hidden agendas thrown in to spice up motivations. The action takes place over one long night, the imperative of reopening the bridges by dawn for the city to function creating the time-constrained framework.

Director Brian Kirk has a robust cast to animate the running and gunning. Chadwick Boseman, Sienna Miller and J.K. Simmons never need to move out of their comfortable gears, but add plenty of quality. The criminals are also provided with welcome texture. Taylor Kitsch as the highly strung but still methodical killer is well-matched by Stephan James as his more hesitant accomplice, and their contrasting dynamic opens intriguing avenues for Boseman's detective to exploit.

Cinematographer Paul Cameron makes good use of the nighttime aesthetic, and as one breathless chase follows another, Tim Murrell's editing finds balance between frantic and coherent. The opening shootout is an exhilarating demonstration of advantages afforded by weaponry and military training, while a couple of guns-drawn showdowns between Michael and Andre allow intellect to compete with instinct.

What starts as a robbery-gone-bad morphs into something much more nefarious, and as the night turns to dawn the dead body count rivals the bridge count. If nothing else, 21 Bridges is always happy to run up the score.



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Movie Review: 42 (2013)

A biography about Jackie Robinson, 42 is an inspiring story of nation-changing courage. 

With the end of World War Two ushering in a new era of social upheaval, the crusty owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) makes the bold decision to recruit the first Black player from the Negro league into the major leagues. He selects the Kansas City Monarch's spirited shortstop Jack Robinson (Chadwick Boseman), an army veteran with a tendency to push against segregation rules, as the player to break the colour barrier.

Branch warns his new recruit that he will need guts to maintain his temperament despite abhorrent abuse. Robinson accepts the challenge and marries his sweetheart Rachel (Nicole Beharie), while Black reporter Wendell Smith (André Holland) is assigned to cover the player's progress. After an initial season with the Montreal affiliate team Robinson proves himself an effective hitter and fiendish base runner, and makes it onto the Brooklyn roster as a first baseman. In the big leagues he has to overcome racist attitudes from his teammates, opponents, and the fans, while developing into a top performer, team leader and inspiration.

One of baseball's all-time greats, Robinson was both a phenomenal ball player and a remarkable pioneer. Writer and director Brian Helgeland approaches the story from the perspective of both Robinson and Rickey, providing 42 with a dual narrative thrust and two strong-willed characters shouldering the responsibility of creating history.

Despite a relatively long running time of over two hours, Helgeland keeps the pacing brisk. The early years are skipped and the story starts where it matters most, with Rickey seeing the future and deciding to change the present, both to challenge racist attitudes and as a business decision to strengthen his team. The absence of childhood or contextual material about either man helps with immediate immersiveness, but does leave formative gaps.

With two exemplary men at the heart of the story, 42 looks at the periphery for villains. Philadelphia Flyers manager Ben Chapman steps forward as the worst example of on-field bigotry, spewing hatred at Robinson in a hideous trial by fire. A succession of opposing pitchers are more physical in demonstrating their disdain towards a Black man in their sport, throwing at his head.

But Robinson's story is one of seismic change, albeit earned slowly and with great difficulty. When hatred is exposed it causes goodness to come forth, and while Helgeland is not always successful drawing out Robinson's teammates as individuals, gradually the Dodgers players come together to support and celebrate their Black colleague, prodding baseball through a one-way door towards a better era of integration.

Harrison Ford and Chadwick Boseman create an unlikely odd couple, the veteran owner and brash newcomer perfectly complementing each other. Ford chews into the role of Branch Rickey with a marvellous twinkle in his eye, and Boseman occupies Robinson's soul with a measured performance combining spirit with dignity.

On a field where remarkable dreams can come true, 42 is a worthy celebration of a true hero's emergence.



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Movie Review: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

A drama set in the music world, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom exposes generational rifts and scars carried by Black performers. Superlative lead performances compensate for otherwise limited cinematic joy.

Chicago, 1927. Flamboyant blues star Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), a legend in the South, is in town for a recording session supervised by her nervous manager Irvin (Jeremy Shamos) and money-pinching record company boss Sturdyvant (Jonny Coyne). Her back-up band includes cocky young trumpeter Levee Green (Chadwick Boseman), who writes music and dreams of creating his own troupe to record more modern, upbeat tunes.

While the band is rehearsing, differences of opinion flare up between the brazen Levee and the other older, more circumspect members, including Cutler (Colman Domingo) and Toledo (Glynn Turman). Ma finally arrives along with her nephew Sylvester and back-up singer/lover Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige), and immediately imposes her will on the recording session, further heightening tensions in the studio.

An adaptation of the August Wilson play co-produced by Denzel Washington, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (the title refers to the name of one of her more famous songs) stays close to its stage origins. A colourful prelude is set at an audience show in rural Georgia, but subsequently director George C. Wolfe allows the theatrical milieu to dominate both in setting (two rooms of the recording studio) and performance tones (dominated by showy monologues). Stylistically, the film settles down as not much more than a filmed play.

The subject matter is uneven. Some dialogue exchanges extend into profound observations on the Black experience in America, including Levee revealing the heartrending story of his parents tangling with violent bigots, and Ma expressing frustration that her voice is monetarily revered by the likes of Irwin, while as a person she is ignored.

But too many conversations are repetitive or trivial, the arguments between Levee and the other band members endlessly going around in circles and covering the same topics, his cockiness and shiny new shoes generating the most verbiage. At a running length of just 94 minutes, all the talk means the musical content is surprisingly limited. Frustration builds as the tiresome bickering keeps interrupting or delaying the music, and Ma is relegated to a secondary character, albeit still larger than life.

Despite the surrounding limitations, Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman deliver powerhouse performances. Davis portrays Ma as a force of nature with an unbendable will, refusing to accept grief or excuses from anyone. Boseman adds the exuberance of a man seeking a better future and supremely confident both in his talent and his ability to manipulate the system to his advantage.

Brash but confined, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is bottled-up boldness.



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Movie Review: Marshall (2017)

A biographical courtroom drama, Marshall recounts a milestone court case in the career of the first Black judge to serve on the United State Supreme Court.

In the early 1940s, the fledgling National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) is struggling to justify itself and attract donors. Brash lawyer Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) is assigned by the NAACP to defend Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown) a Black chauffeur accused of raping and attempting to kill society lady Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson) in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Spell vehemently professes his innocence, and Marshall teams up with local insurance lawyer Sam Friedman (Josh Gad) to mount a defence. The ambitious Lorin Willis (Dan Stevens) prosecutes, and Judge Foster (James Cromwell) presides, allowing the out-of-state Marshall to be present in the courtroom but not to speak. Marshall has to coach Friedman every step of the way, while raising the profile of the case and uncovering the web of lies surrounding the rape allegations.

Although Marshall is a predominantly familiar courtroom fight for justice carrying echoes of a real-life To Kill A Mockingbird, director Reginald Hudlin infuses the drama with enough quality and pointed conflict to overcome the predictable elements. With several underlined moments of dialogue but otherwise minimal aggrandizing, the film flourishes by defining the personality of a pioneering giant in the history of the United States civil rights movement.

Hudlin remains focused on one man's fate to achieve the broader historical impact. The script by Michael and Jacob Koskoff creates a worthwhile mystery where the truth is elusive on all fronts, and where Joseph Spell is only receiving a court date instead of a lynching because the rape allegations against him are in Connecticut and not the deep south. But the relatively liberal good folks of Bridgeport still harbour deep-seated prejudices, and in a she-said, he-said case with a respectable white woman as purported victim, Spell is always on the back foot. Marshall is thrust into the multiple roles of investigator, psychologist and coach to navigate a tortured path towards the facts.

But this is also a perfect showcase for an NAACP seeking to halt years of impulsive mistreatment of Black defendants. Spell's predicament resonates as a grander call for colourblind investigations of the truth, the case a microcosm of both the failings and potential of the justice system. Marshall critically recognizes the value of national publicity and notoriety in ultimately creating new baseline realities for Black defendants.

The film's visual beauty matches the sharp intellectual contest. With brown, black and grey colours dominating and the rise of fascism in Europe a looming backdrop, Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography eloquently recreates 1940s society and aesthetics.

Chadwick Boseman provides Marshall with an impish charm and confident swagger. His performance enlivens the drama, but also cries out for more background exposition on the events and upbringing that shaped the man. Josh Gad ably rides the most complex arc, from Friedman's initial reluctance to get involved all the way to embracing a new career calling. Sitting at the top of the courtroom, James Cromwell is a domineering presence as a judge of his times but glimpsing the future, while Kate Hudson gets a rare opportunity to shine in a meaningful if small role.

Forceful and dashing, Marshall nudges legal history towards enlightenment.



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Movie Review: Black Panther (2018)

A groundbreaking superhero movie, Black Panther is one of the finest examples of what the genre is capable of, with a rich story and a multitude of characters carrying far-reaching resonance.

The isolated African country of Wakanda hides behind a veil of poverty while enjoying prosperity and advanced technology afforded by Vibranium, a mineral deposited by an ancient meteor strike. As well, a heart-shaped herb provides supernatural Black Panther combat powers to the country's selected ruler. T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) rises to King of Wakanda when his father is assassinated. He reunites with his mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett), elder statesman Zuri (Forest Whitaker), and ex-lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o). The fierce General Okoye (Danai Gurira) is in charge of the all-female security warriors, while T'Challa's sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) heads up the technology advancement labs despite her young age.

W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) leads the border tribe, one of four clans united under T'Challa, but M'Baku (Winston Duke), the leader of the Jabari Mountain Tribe, chooses to remain isolated. The new king is immediately confronted by a threat. Black market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) teams up with the mysterious Erik "Killmonger" Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) to try and sell stolen Vibranium to undercover CIA Agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) at a rendevouz in South Korea. T'Challa, Nakia and Okoye intervene to try and reclaim the precious mineral, triggering a potentially catastrophic series of events carrying echoes of decisions made by T'Challa's father in years past.

With black director Ryan Coogler at the helm, an almost all-black cast and a predominantly African setting, Black Panther is a bold step forward in the Marvel Studios cinematic world. But remarkably, the brave new racial frontier is only one of the film's many spectacular successes. Black Panther creates the most compelling fantasy world since the original Star Wars, and a fertile plot teeming with interesting characters and events. The script, co-written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, soon asserts itself. The story proudly takes centre stage, and several themes intertwine across the screen, connecting Wakanda's fantasy with current realities. The film's genius resides in debating with searing honesty pressing and relevant societal issues.

A central theme is an advanced country's role in the family of nations. Wakanda has always prided itself - and thrived - on a policy of isolation, looking inwards to the prosperity of its own people and disengaging from the rest of the world. T'Challa is challenged with three options: maintain the status quo, export technology to promote weaponized conflicts, or find a way to engage peacefully. Each potential choice comes with risks, and the film presents a well rounded view of all the justifications.

The black experience is tackled from two fronts. Black Africa's hidden potential to positively contribute globally is presented as an intriguing future state, while the appropriate response to the historical and current mistreatment of blacks in the United States and indeed around the world is the key grievance driving the film's antagonist Erik Stevens.

The sins of the father haunting future generations gradually emerges as a powerful thread unting T'Challa and his resentful cousin, who steps forward from the shadow of history seeking to right old wrongs. The film distinguishes itself by bringing the conflict to Wakanda itself, the struggle between good and evil presented as an internal conflict for the soul of a country .

All the plot elements provide opportunities for the many characters to shine, and Black Panther introduces an extraordinary number of memorable people, most of them women. While T'Challa hovers the near the middle of all the intersecting ideas, General Okoye, Nakia and Shuri emerge as his closest allies and confidants, and Coogler provides each with a worthwhile personality.

All of which leaves the superhero elements as the cherry on the cake, a natural embellishment to the film rather than its reason for being. Black Panther does not disappoint when the time comes for special effects and stunts, although the breathless chase scene in South Korea outshines the final triple-headed climax. The right dose of dry wit and a sprinkling of high-tech gadgets add a layer of gloss.

Smart, engaging, and relevant, Black Panther sets a new standard for superhero achievement.

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