Civil War Review : Journalism & Humanity Stuck Amidst War

Civil War Review: Alex Garland writes and directs Civil War, a dystopian war flick focused on civil war and war journalism. Garland's Civil War is unnecessarily slow, but necessarily brutal and sometimes inhuman. Wartime journalism is too difficult, as it not only requires guts but also nerves. What's more, the film is led by two female photographers, providing a perfect contradictory conflict to the "guts" thing. While doing so, it does not shy away from showing mass murders, explosions, gunfire, and even a mass grave. Adding to that, the film also gets into the mindset of secessionist forces, militant forces, and western forces. Basically, it's more audience friendly for American viewers because they know American issues better than anybody else, mainly the differences between western Central and South Americans. But there are some scenes in the film that will leave you disturbed. Garland succeeds in making you feel the distress and tension, despite a slow-paced narrative.A civil war has erupted between the United States government and several secessionist organisations, leaving the state silent, dead, and almost annihilated. Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), a renowned photojournalist from Colorado, saves an aspiring photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), from a suicide bombing. Unbeknownst to Lee, Jessie joins her team on a trip to Washington, D.C., to interview and photograph the president before secessionist forces take the city and kill him. During this trip, Jessies is taught to stay calm and tough while capturing insensitive events. A few of them are killed, but they are taught to walk over them as the unrest is too high to be emotional at the time. Jessie is a fan of Lee already, and she learns to be like her in quick time. But will they end up being alive after all this? Find out in the film.Alex Garland's script is full of anxiety, nervousness, distress, tension, and fear. But when a 110-minute film starts giving you nap breaks, you know something is wrong with the screenplay. Civil War suffers from the same problem, as it looks flat in the middle. There is an emptiness in the screenplay that allows you to take a drink break during the screening. A few dramatic pauses came right after a killing and spoiled the entire mood. I mean, who the hell wants to listen to your sunrise music after watching someone's murder? Get over that cheap trick used for so-called artistic cinema. No human can bear it, I am telling you. The overexposure to photojournalism also causes some problems. Come on, you don't go and stand in the middle of the battlefield when two sides are raining gun shots, and for what? To take a picture. Get lost. Despite several unenthusiastic and unreliable sequences, Garland's script wins you over with its tactical understanding of inhumanity during tough times. When your 2-cent job takes over humanity, I say you have learned the lesson of a lifetime. Jessie learns it by the end, doesn't matter if we have to wait longer than expected and tolerate a few logical theories.Kirsten Dunst plays a responsible journalist, and you'd feel for her character. A lot of "F" words don't harm her personality much since the character has to be unstable in those situations. Wagner Moura, as her colleague, gives an honest performance, while Stephen McKinley Henderson is perfect in the role of their mentor. The cute-looking Cailee Spaeny goes away with the best and most challenging scenes. You can't get over her expressions and reactions in the mass grave sequence and the climax sequence at White House. Evan Lai and Nelson Lee pass by with impressive cameos, and those two scenes are two of the most heartbreaking scenes in the entire film. The supporting cast does a decent job, but nothing is to be mentioned separately.Civil War was expected to have a lot of explosive scenes and war scenes, but they hardly appear in the 15 minutes of the film. The rest of the narrative is more like a drama than a war film. Rob Hardy's cinematography is excellent at places, and Jake Roberts' editing has its highs and lows. The first half could have been a little faster, and the middle portion could have been removed easily. The background score goes too loud sometimes, giving your chairs a shake to feel the intensity of the scene. Was that a smart trick? Yes, I guess so. Ears won't mind much if the brain is pleased, right? Finally coming to Alex Garland's direction, Civil War can be argued to be his best work yet. As a writer, he has messed up a few things here and there, but not as a director. Firstly, it was a challenging subject, and secondly, it could damage people's mindsets about war. He handled both things beautifully, providing us with a more than watchable flick, with the fictional dystopian setup coming close to reality. No inhuman creatures or superheroes either. Do watch it if you don't mind slow-paced dramas with a slightly overrated artistic touch.