Spike Lee has always made bold movies. But sometimes he has a tendency to over-stylize his films, OR to let the heavy themes outshine the story. That’s not necessarily always bad thing. He has a distinct visual and thematic style – one that has been groundbreaking and highly relevant throughout the course of his career. But his talents, vision, and purpose all seem to come together on his most recent film, BlackkKlansman.

There will be detractors out there, sure. It’s not a perfect film. I’ve always been confused by the jazz elements in Spike’s musical scores (which is weird, because I like jazz – maybe it’s just the fusion of jazz with cinematic score that is off-putting). But it’s not AS distracting in BlackkKlasman. There’s a good amount of soul/funk music in this as well, which helps even things out.

Some highlights in this film, along with the style and direction, are the performances from John David Washington (I had no idea he was Denzel’s son), and Adam Driver. Both have a strong screen presence and an ability to effectively inhabit their characters. Oh, and there’s a fun little cameo from Isiah Whitlock Jr. that should put a smile on the face of any fan of The Wire.

This is one of Spike’s most watchable, entertaining movies, and yet it still manages to provide a considerable amount of cultural and philosophical criticism about our current times. That’s not always been the case with his films. This is an important film for this time in American culture. And he pulls no punches when it comes to the rise of Trump and the resurgence of white supremacy. But the fact that he can say something with such conviction, while also making a movie that’s just damn fun to watch, is a reminder that Spike Lee still has the chops that catapulted him to significance with Do The Right Thing.

4 out of 5 stars