Civil War opens with a slow, uninteresting start. We’re introduced to a team of journalists who aim to travel hundreds of miles across a divided America to Washington DC to photograph the president amid a civil war.
Lee Miller (played by Kirsten Dunst), a renowned photojournalist appears to be our main focus along with an unwelcome, wannabe protégé child who joins the team on their journey.
Unfortunately, none of these characters spark enough interest to warrant your full attention given that it’s mostly surface-level at this point.
Dunst’s character is maybe the exception due to her cold, guarded response to the hostile environment she’s very well used to, but don’t hope for this to unravel into some fascinating revelation or character development.
The context of how this war we’re witnessing has been brought about remains vague throughout the film.
The withholding of this information places the actual war itself as a background piece, rarely provoking much interest despite moments of curiosity arising during the viewing experience.
Nick Offerman and Kirsten Dunst lead the cast of A24's Civil War
A24
However, the intrigue lies within the tense action and the artistic capture of war which is introduced to us in the more attentive second act and excels further in the high-powered final act.
The piercing sound of bullets slamming into compact brings a satisfying audio experience yet is excelled even further as it’s brought to an immediate brief halt once Miller and her young protégé capture the silent still image of brutality until we’re thrust back into the heavy-hitting action again.
Outside of this admirable artistic technique, the brutality in Civil War feels almost entry-level given the approach of the subject matter.
An intense scene involving a callous soldier played by Jesse Plemons gets close to delivering a satisfying standard. However, there was a feeling that Alex Garland could have been braver and taken his work into riskier and bolder territory.
America the beautiful. Alex Garland's CIVIL WAR opens in theaters and @IMAX April 12. pic.twitter.com/TV3OpXhbHb
— A24 (@A24) February 20, 2024
Garland is a master of delivering thought-provoking works such as Ex Machina (2014), Annihilation (2018), Men (2022) and, the brilliant series Devs (2020).
Yet, this latest entry barely gets the cogs in the brain turning.
The film’s conclusion adds some intellectual depth that had previously felt absent but the result is nothing more than an observation that wouldn’t provoke more than a sentence during a post-viewing discussion.
If you were expecting Civil War to be a hot talking point based on the art alone, you may feel somewhat empty-handed.
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Jesse Plemons in A24's Civil War
A24
Although the desire for a more in-depth, bleaker experience remains, it was refreshing to see a mainstream release in the modern era refrain from giving its audience a backdoor moral lecture through its subject matter.
Its apolitical approach may cause frustration among viewers who demand Civil War should make a bolder statement concerning the state of politics in our own reality.
But art doesn’t owe anyone such a thing and is certainly not a substitute for lack of depth.
Review by Bobby Charlton.