Every Spike Lee Movie, Ranked
Updated 9/11/20 to add American Utopia.
Spike Lee's new Netflix film Da 5 Bloods has been earning mostly terrific reviews, but where does it rank among the veteran director's best films? In the gallery above, we rank every feature directed by Lee in order by Metascore (reflecting the consensus of top professional film critics) from worst to best.
Note that a few made-for-television films are not included because there were not enough reviews available to calculate a Metascore. These include Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella (1990), Sucker Free City (2004), Kobe Doin' Work (2009), and 2 Fists Up (2016).
Shot in only 18 days with an inexperienced young lead, this 2006 release was Lee’s first film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Inspired by the religious upbringing of co-writer James McBride, the film follows 13-year-old Flick as he spends the summer with his grandfather, a bishop played by The Wire’s Clarke Peters in a widely praised performance. For some critics, the film’s quick production schedule resulted in a film that feels both alive and underdeveloped.
“Lee can be tight and focused as a gun-for-hire, but he's always viewed personal projects as irresistible invitations to self-indulgence and overreaching. Red Hook Summer is no exception.” —Nathan Rabin, A.V. Club
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