(#18) BlacKkKlansman (2018) - [8.5/10]

A black man with the help of his white colleague infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan.

From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The young detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream. Produced by the team behind the Academy-Award® winning Get Out.

How would I describe this film in one word?

Exciting.

Note Electric. Engaging. Exciting. Man I love those words in such close proximity when reviewing a movie - you know it's gonna be good, and it is. BlacKkKlansman (which is stylized as such to provide a hint of premis for the movie) is directed by Spike Lee - director of Malcom X (starring Denzel Washington). Who knew 26 years after Malcom X, Denzel Washington's son John David Washington would star in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman. Yeap. It's him.

Review

This movie was enjoyable from beginning to end. We have a rookie cop who gets promoted to a detective and gets assigned a case to investigate the Ku Klux Klan not before initially being assigned to infiltrate a local rally for black people. And then the story pumps the gas from there. Both Ron and Flip attempt to infiltrate both the rally and the KKK simultaneously. And it's truly nerve-wracking how tense it is and how you feel at any and every moment that something could go wrong and they could get busted, it's so exhaustingly exhilarating how intense this movie's story gets you and it even blows my mind that it's an actual true story. Not only is it exciting story-wise, but the themes and superficial subtext it portrays is powerful and respectable. I went into this movie expecting it to be white-hating and portraying white people as evil and racist, but in the fight between the two races brawling for the title of superiority, you have the Ron and Flip who just exemplify the power of equality and respect and what I got from that is that Spike wants America to be hate-free and get along with each other as humans. I'll tip my (imaginary) hat to that. It could have spared a few minutes from being prolonged at a total watch time of 136 minutes. I would've also liked to see the cop duo indulge in their relationship a bit more deeper but the movie works just as well and we were treated to fine, mature, (and sometimes during the light-hearted bits to add to the comical feel) hilariously good performances. This movie may have it's flaws but I'm rating it on the scale of how well I enjoyed it.

RATING: 8.5/10

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Director: Spike Lee

Rated: R

Runtime: 2 hr 15 min

Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama

Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier