Movie Review: ‘Civil War’

Review by James Lindorf

As the indie movie studio of the moment, A24 is known for bringing quality without breaking the bank. Look at “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” with 11 Oscar nominations and seven wins on a $25 million budget. Director Garland and Cinematographer Rob Hardy (Ex Machina, Mission: Impossible – Fallout) are bringing beauty, intensity, and heavy artillery to the forefront in the studio’s most expensive film to date with a massive price tag, for them, of $50 million. Best known for his work in Science Fiction with “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation,” Garland is hitting much closer to home with a topic some argue is in our future if the current political divide continues to expand. Liberal vs. Conservative, Democrat vs. Republican, and even right vs. wrong are of little concern to Garland, who wrote and directed when compared to exploring what form a second “Civil War” could take. Garland and A24 take us to the frontline when “Civil War” opens around the country on April 12th.

A second civil war has been raging in America for an untold number of years. Highways are in shambles of broken down and burned-out cars, people are living in tent cities in sporting arenas, and bombers make any gathering a potential tragedy. This time, it is not a battle of North v South, but The United States of America taking on the Western Forces, which consists of California and Texas, while Florida does its own thing to the South. “Civil War” follows a team of journalists led by the seasoned duo of photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and writer Joel (Wagner Moura), who are joined by mentor and colleague Sammy (Stephen Henderson) and wannabe photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny). Their journey from New York to DC is a harrowing one, filled with danger and uncertainty, as they hope to interview the President (Nick Offerman) before rebels descend on Washington for the climactic battle.

If the motto for real estate is location, location, location, then Garland’s motto for writing “Civil War” must have been intense, intense, intense. Steve Martin was on the road trip from hell in “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” but he’s got nothing on Dunst and her team as they take on bombers, snipers, and tanks; oh my. As with all road trip movies, not every step along the way is going to be worth the time. Along their nearly 500-mile route, the group encounters the innocent victims displaced by the war, the good forces, the bad forces, and people who may be even worse. What sets this war film apart is the unique perspective of the journalists, a group that has been a part of military combat for over 100 years but are seldom thought about for the risks they take and the traumas they suffer, even if their work is ingrained in our memories.

Beyond the action, the strong performances from each of the four main members of the cast buoy a fairly basic story with little character development. From Lee’s stoicism, Joel’s mania, Sammy’s affable and protective nature, and Jessie’s wide-eyed optimism, they all bring something to the table they can embody and excel at. I am the least familiar with the work of Spaeny, but she is excellent at balancing tough beyond her years and youthful reckless joy. Unfortunately, that is all we ever know about them, as “Civil War” is only about what they are currently experiencing. It does not expand on what brought them to this point, other than parents who would rather bury their heads in the sand, or where it will take them. At one point, Dunst’s Lee has a breakdown or a PTSD attack, and it is never addressed, let alone explained. Then it is over, and she is once again the intrepid reporter. It would have elevated the whole film if Garland had given us characters to connect with beyond empathy. The laughs would be louder, and the fear would be more ingrained into our experiences with Jessie, who is learning about this world alongside us.

Depending on your point of view, one element that could help or hurt the film is the way Garland abstained from politics. There are some buzzwords like Antifa and fascism thrown around, but they are there to make it feel more like our current political climate, not to support a side. Even Charlottesville, one of the three central locations in the film, was used purely for name recognition and not because it logically fit. There is no route from New York to DC that goes through Virginia. It nearly doubles the length of their trip through a warzone where anyone could pose a threat, and it costs 300 Canadian dollars to get a tank of gas. It would have made more sense if Atlanta was their starting point. It has a significant history from the first Civil War and makes sense geographically and logically. If you examine the subtext and dropped lines, Garland may have chosen a side. Still, it could also be personal bias leading to my interpretation of his script. Financially, this is the intelligent choice because it is hard to make back the largest budget in studio history by alienating over half of potential moviegoers by being on the “wrong side” or “too political.”
Without memorable characters or a side to root for or against, “Civil War” will have diminishing rewards on repeat viewings, but that doesn’t stop it from a thrilling ride through an American war zone with a powerful message of what we shouldn’t allow ourselves to become. All points considered, Garland made a good, but not great, film, earning a 3.5 out of 5

Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
Original Language: English
Director: Alex Garland
Producer: Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Gregory Goodman
Writer: Alex Garland
Release Date: April 12th, 2024
Runtime: 1h 49m
Distributor: A24