Felipe’s review published on Letterboxd:
An entertaining and gripping war drama that like even the most serious Spike Lee movies, has a lot of great comedy.
Then again, this isn't one of Spike Lee's most serious films, or at least it's one of his less angry films. For all its relevant commentary on racism, this is primarily an adventure film, and a damn good one at that. It is also a great tribute to all black soilders who fought in the Vietnam war. It's a story about unity, which I think it's something we could all use right now.
It's full of references to classic movies, some more effective than others.
It's perhaps a bit too similar to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Many of its story beats are lifted directly from that film (of course they recreate the "stinking badges" scene), so having seen that movie did remove a lot of the tension, and made the latter parts of the second half somewhat predictable.
That landmine scene however is one of the tensest movie scenes I've seen in a while.
Also, I love how no other movie could possibly get away with having the villain straight up wearing a MAGA hat during a shootout. It would be painfully unsubtle if it wasn't such a hilarious visual.
Black lives matter.
