Dog’s Movie House: “Civil War” An Intense Piece Of Realistic Fiction!

Garland, who is the mastermind behind science fiction classics such as “Ex Machina” and “Annilhation” doesn’t take sides in this film. “Civil War” is primarily about the quartet of reporters and the events they both cover and experience. There are no personal political agendas at play for Garland in terms of Red and Blue and there are no references or parodies of Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Yeah, The President seems like he’s a bit power hungry, but judgement is hard to come by as you don’t know why he does what he does. There is no backstory save for the barest of frameworks and Offerman’s Commander In Chief just becomes another piece in the puzzle.

That’s not to say that “Civil War” is not political, but it’s the politics of what happens to the human condition and human nature when the bullets start flying. Although embedded with the Western Alliance on the way to D.C., the journalists find out that neither side is particularly good and the effects of the war on civililty and decency are downright terrifying. Like so many other science fiction features, “Civil War” serves as a cautionary tale about what could happen if when abandon civillity and rules for the reckless pursuit of political power.

Garland gets some great performances with Dunst anchoring the film as the driven yet cynical Lee. She’s seen it all and is tired, so much so that she serves as a reluctant mentor to Jessie, who ends up growing up very fast Spaeny is very good here, projecting innocense without being overly naive. Lee ends up bonding with her and teaching her depsite her initial distaste for the idea, and there developing friendship brings some much needed heart to the film. Moura is quite good as Joel, who while being almost as cynical as Lee, is much more laid back and accepting of the situation. It’s his job to come up with solutions to many of the problems that the quartet face throughout their travels. Rounding out the team is the excellent Henderson who brings a world-weary point of view to the group yet still manages to fight against his aging body for one last big story before riding off into the sunset.

Garland successfully mixes hard drama with some truly kinetic action. The final assault on Washington is absolutely intense with a sense of immersion despite the lack of the shaky-cam aesthetic that is common in movies of this kind. “Civil War” even moves a bit into horror territory when Jessie (along with another journalist friend of Joel’s) are captured by uniformed psychos led by an intense but uncredited Jesse Plemmons. The confrontation (which takes place in front of a mass grave) is as harrowing as any slasher film you’re going to see.

“Civil War” is thought-provoking, intense, and extremely well-written. I don’t know if it qualifies as an “important film” (I’m not fond of the term, as you can probably tell) but it sure as hell makes you think and provides an incredible story in the meantime. It’s one of the best films of the year so far! 5 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!

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