Rating: 7.5/10
Watched on April 16th, 2024 (first watch)
format: IMAX theatre
Civil War is a nerve racking and deep film that takes us on a very interesting journey as we experience a civil war in the US through the lenses of a press team. The film uses multiple interesting methods that will make it very engaging and one of the most interesting original movie scripts of 2024.
The beautiful cinematography that captures the dystopian world that the events are happening in, is mixed with some great still shoots. Specifically that at most times and during important sequences, it literally shifts through the camera lenses of one of the journalists as if we are holding the camera and capturing these photos. It is one detail that makes this film feel real and genuine. However, to me personally the film felt like it is 'more cinematography than storytelling' type of film. Meaning that the story itself needed more content, not sequences, but content. In terms of sequences, it fulfilled everything. For example, the protagonist Lee (played amazingly by Kristen Dunst) really felt like more could've been added to her character, specifically her past. Although the film is great at building sympathy towards Lee, then imagine if the film touched on a specific dramatic event that happened in her past? Or something about herself personally that makes her THE protagonist of this story?. This is the fist time in a while that Dunst puts on a performance in that level as it isn't something unusual based on her past performances, so Civil War is the comeback needed. Cailee Spaeny as Jessie proves herself again after Priscilla (2023) of why she is one of the few current young actresses that needs to be seen more.
The film is really bold for presenting such heavy sequences that were very much hard to watch because of how messy and bloody they were. Not to mention the multiple sequences throughout the journey of this story that had everyone on their edge of their seat, literally. They are so many and they were so detailed, scary and has big impact on the watching experience of the whole film. I really respect when a director choses to blend in a soundtrack that is far different from the genre of its film. In this case, most of the action and dystopian sequences had old songs being played in the background that just made it unique as 'exaggerating' in filmmaking can't be done by any director, which makes Alex garland filmography unique.
Civil War is a nerve racking and deep film that takes us on a very interesting journey as we experience a civil war in the US through the lenses of a press team. The film uses multiple interesting methods that will make it very engaging and one of the most interesting original movie scripts of 2024.
The beautiful cinematography that captures the dystopian world that the events are happening in, is mixed with some great still shoots. Specifically that at most times and during important sequences, it literally shifts through the camera lenses of one of the journalists as if we are holding the camera and capturing these photos. It is one detail that makes this film feel real and genuine. However, to me personally the film felt like it is 'more cinematography than storytelling' type of film. Meaning that the story itself needed more content, not sequences, but content. In terms of sequences, it fulfilled everything. For example, the protagonist Lee (played amazingly by Kristen Dunst) really felt like more could've been added to her character, specifically her past. Although the film is great at building sympathy towards Lee, then imagine if the film touched on a specific dramatic event that happened in her past? Or something about herself personally that makes her THE protagonist of this story?. This is the fist time in a while that Dunst puts on a performance in that level as it isn't something unusual based on her past performances, so Civil War is the comeback needed. Cailee Spaeny as Jessie proves herself again after Priscilla (2023) of why she is one of the few current young actresses that needs to be seen more.
The film is really bold for presenting such heavy sequences that were very much hard to watch because of how messy and bloody they were. Not to mention the multiple sequences throughout the journey of this story that had everyone on their edge of their seat, literally. They are so many and they were so detailed, scary and has big impact on the watching experience of the whole film. I really respect when a director choses to blend in a soundtrack that is far different from the genre of its film. In this case, most of the action and dystopian sequences had old songs being played in the background that just made it unique as 'exaggerating' in filmmaking can't be done by any director, which makes Alex garland filmography unique.