REVIEW: 'Civil War' Is A Solid Journalism Movie That Shouldn't Have Been Set In A Civil War
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
SPOILER FREE:
Like a lot of people, I was really pumped for this movie because of the individual components are all awesome. Alex Garland is a really good director (Ex Machina, Annihilation), It's a solid cast and a future American Civil War is a fascinating concept. All winners!
This movie, however, is just a bit a of a frustrating combination of two separate movies. The first movie is a really interesting look at war journalism and how it takes it's toll on the people that cover world conflicts. The second movie is a sort of half-baked war flick that blue balls the audience on the concept of a future war. Basically, there was no real reason for this movie to be set in an American Civil War because it had almost nothing to do with the primary, driving story.
So what you end up with is a movie that:
- Is wonderfully acted. I saw people bitching about Dunst's performance but I think it was perfect for the role. Just a beaten-down person with a 1,000 yard stare. Stephen McKinley Henderson was also amazing as usual and Jesse Plemmons stole the show every second he was on screen.
- Audio/Visual is top-tier. If you've ever seen anything Garland, you know to expect that. He does some cool stuff with still photos too that I really like.
- The war journalist story works really well. It's cool and a different take that I think kinda shows how blood is a business no matter what side of it you're on.
But, at the end of the day, there was just no reason for this to be a civil war movie. It's like a giant elephant in the room that you're just expected to ignore for some reason. It adds nothing, it's apolitical so theres no real commentary on it but it is just there, ignoring you ask you beg it to say something.
For a full spoiler review, you can watch below: