Civil War was made and released at a time when something like it could turn into reality, that thought was with me the entire time. The film is intense, heartbreaking and emotional. Never shying away from showing the horrors of war and the documentary feeling in its cinematography only enhances the immersion. We never get thrown off the wagon, the tone is consistent. Alex Garland who directed and wrote the film is the one to thank, stellar filmmaking. The camera work is excellent and I simply loved how it goes quiet whenever they take a photo, the cinematography and direction were top notch, truly mesmerizing. The mise-en-scene is also something to praise, absolutely perfect. It has been a long time since I watched a movie which was this intense and gives a thrill down your spine. The sound design was top notch and so was the musical score along with the soundtrack used. I loved how he played with the sound, how simplistic the film would have been without this sound design. Alex Garland's "Civil War" is nothing but simplistic, it's a masterpiece both technically and storytelling wise, a great send off for his directional work as he had said how he's focusing more on writing.
A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
I thought the pacing was absolutely perfect, the world building we get to see and the character development that comes from the road trip kind of narrative as our journalists have to make it to Washington DC, getting into all kinds of events which often leans into life threatening territory. There's a scene when they meet Jesse Plemons' character, a scene with absolutely breathtaking acting performances by Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson. The cast also includes Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, and Jefferson White. Chase Hutchinson from The Wrap said this about Kirsten Dunst's acting, "It is a film about journalistic ethics and, in its own way, the interpretation of images is grounded in [Dunst's] outstanding performance. It isn't an easy role to inhabit, but she does so perfectly." There are several great performances, I think Kirsten Dunst deserves all the praise and some awards for her performance, subtly showing what I'm quite sure is PTSD but also a memorable dramatic performance in its own right. The supporting cast alongside her never outshines her, but their presence is felt in every scene. Cailee Spaeny brings a great performance as Jessie Cullen, a breakthrough on the big screen.
About the scene with Jesse Plemons, Erik Kain with Forbes wrote, "But we don't know who the racist, murderous soldier Jesse Plemons' plays is, or which side he's fighting for, or whether he's even a soldier at all. All we know is that he's terrifying (something Plemons has mastered almost too perfectly). Maybe he's just using the fog of war to kill whoever he pleases with nobody to stop him. These things happen in war. That's what Civil War is trying to remind us. It doesn't matter who the good guys are, or what politics or social breakdown led to us to this place. Here be dragons." Whose side is something that often is brought up in various scenes, the film never strives to be black and white as anyone can be bad. Like in the attack on the white house we see (who're supposed to be the good guys) simply murdering people who are trying to surrender. You could call it just being war, but it's often this hatred deep inside and well, the film ends with hatred felt by every single individual inside the oval office.
The attack on the white house was absolutely fantastic, stunningly shot and really intense. The attack on DC prior to this was brilliantly executed and made for some great cinema with realism before entertainment, which made it so much better and entertaining in my opinion. The death of Kirsten Dunst's character Lee Smith at the end was something I found to be quite lackluster, but also necessary in a way for her character, but just the execution and how Jessie Cullen seemingly ignoring her death with what I found to be an abrupt ending afterwards, yet the story is finished. I think the issue lies in how it was shot, slow motion and with Jessie taking multiple photos which makes the scene have less emotional depth than what it could have been.
It seems like people found this film to be wrongfully marketed and advertised, for that I only have this to say, I found the trailer to be similar to the film we got and it is a Alex Garland, who had directed Ex Machina and Annihilation prior to this along with written screenplays of 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go. What do I mean with this? His films are not action movies or fast paced, they're often philosophical and thematical. So what kind of film is Civil War? It's a dystopian thriller. I'll quote Sammie Purcell who reviewed the film for Roughdraft Atlanta, "with 'Civil War,' Garland doesn't appear to be interested in the socio-political landscape that would lead to a national conflict, but rather how far people will go to pretend everything is fine when everything is so painfully not." and honestly, as I wrote higher up on my review, this sits well at home with our own reality. Lots of people probably pretend or would not like to know of the monstrosity wars being fought right now.
To end my review I thought this paragraph would give a good conclusion, from Matt Zoller Seitz at RogerEbert.com, "Civil War is a furiously convincing and disturbing thing when you're watching it. It's a great movie that has its own life force. It's not like anything Garland has made. It's not like anything anyone has made, even though it contains echoes of dozens of other films (and novels) that appear to have fed the filmmaker's imagination." Civil War deserves to be seen on the big screen in a cinema with a great sound system and picture quality, the gunfire for example was enhanced with the surround sound. It was hard to watch but an unforgettable experience.
A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
I thought the pacing was absolutely perfect, the world building we get to see and the character development that comes from the road trip kind of narrative as our journalists have to make it to Washington DC, getting into all kinds of events which often leans into life threatening territory. There's a scene when they meet Jesse Plemons' character, a scene with absolutely breathtaking acting performances by Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson. The cast also includes Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, and Jefferson White. Chase Hutchinson from The Wrap said this about Kirsten Dunst's acting, "It is a film about journalistic ethics and, in its own way, the interpretation of images is grounded in [Dunst's] outstanding performance. It isn't an easy role to inhabit, but she does so perfectly." There are several great performances, I think Kirsten Dunst deserves all the praise and some awards for her performance, subtly showing what I'm quite sure is PTSD but also a memorable dramatic performance in its own right. The supporting cast alongside her never outshines her, but their presence is felt in every scene. Cailee Spaeny brings a great performance as Jessie Cullen, a breakthrough on the big screen.
About the scene with Jesse Plemons, Erik Kain with Forbes wrote, "But we don't know who the racist, murderous soldier Jesse Plemons' plays is, or which side he's fighting for, or whether he's even a soldier at all. All we know is that he's terrifying (something Plemons has mastered almost too perfectly). Maybe he's just using the fog of war to kill whoever he pleases with nobody to stop him. These things happen in war. That's what Civil War is trying to remind us. It doesn't matter who the good guys are, or what politics or social breakdown led to us to this place. Here be dragons." Whose side is something that often is brought up in various scenes, the film never strives to be black and white as anyone can be bad. Like in the attack on the white house we see (who're supposed to be the good guys) simply murdering people who are trying to surrender. You could call it just being war, but it's often this hatred deep inside and well, the film ends with hatred felt by every single individual inside the oval office.
The attack on the white house was absolutely fantastic, stunningly shot and really intense. The attack on DC prior to this was brilliantly executed and made for some great cinema with realism before entertainment, which made it so much better and entertaining in my opinion. The death of Kirsten Dunst's character Lee Smith at the end was something I found to be quite lackluster, but also necessary in a way for her character, but just the execution and how Jessie Cullen seemingly ignoring her death with what I found to be an abrupt ending afterwards, yet the story is finished. I think the issue lies in how it was shot, slow motion and with Jessie taking multiple photos which makes the scene have less emotional depth than what it could have been.
It seems like people found this film to be wrongfully marketed and advertised, for that I only have this to say, I found the trailer to be similar to the film we got and it is a Alex Garland, who had directed Ex Machina and Annihilation prior to this along with written screenplays of 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go. What do I mean with this? His films are not action movies or fast paced, they're often philosophical and thematical. So what kind of film is Civil War? It's a dystopian thriller. I'll quote Sammie Purcell who reviewed the film for Roughdraft Atlanta, "with 'Civil War,' Garland doesn't appear to be interested in the socio-political landscape that would lead to a national conflict, but rather how far people will go to pretend everything is fine when everything is so painfully not." and honestly, as I wrote higher up on my review, this sits well at home with our own reality. Lots of people probably pretend or would not like to know of the monstrosity wars being fought right now.
To end my review I thought this paragraph would give a good conclusion, from Matt Zoller Seitz at RogerEbert.com, "Civil War is a furiously convincing and disturbing thing when you're watching it. It's a great movie that has its own life force. It's not like anything Garland has made. It's not like anything anyone has made, even though it contains echoes of dozens of other films (and novels) that appear to have fed the filmmaker's imagination." Civil War deserves to be seen on the big screen in a cinema with a great sound system and picture quality, the gunfire for example was enhanced with the surround sound. It was hard to watch but an unforgettable experience.