Review of the film Civil War – Aktuálně.cz

A quartet of journalists and war photographers embark on a mission to interview a president whose government has turned the country into a dystopian landscape, full of violence. At first, the application was just a photographer Kirsten Dunst and her colleague, who designed it Wagner Moura. In the end, however, an older colleague, who can no longer walk, convinces them to help him gain weight. And the group will be completed by a promising young photographer.

It’s already starting to chatter strangely here, really Alex Garlandthe author of the pictures Ex Machina or Men, filming this time. Civil War wants to speak to an apocalyptic parable about America today. At the same time, the creators refuse to show any details about the future world. They throw their weak heroes into the middle of the action without making it clear to the audience why they should follow their mission. Soon begins an intense thrill ride through a landscape where nothing but violence and more violence awaits the main characters.

Garland is not afraid of bright, shocking scenes that create a feeling of absolute desperation. At the same time, it is not very understandable what exactly motivates the characters to risk their lives to take pictures of the rude thing they come across on the way.

It feels more like an unintentional parody of the intense work of war reporters. And it could easily be about selfish heroes who only care about their own success, but the movie doesn’t suggest anything like that. Everything in Civil War is just controlled to get the characters into adrenaline pumping situations. And this dysfunctional transition between a dystopian B-movie filmed with praise – but without any humor – and an ambitious Garland parable lasts until the end.

The journey from New York to Washington is mostly disturbed by small skirmishes with a few people from the other side, the nature of the conflict and its effect on the people is shown, for example, with a scene in which several armed men coolly load piles. of dead bodies on the back of trucks to mass graves. But they certainly don’t look like professionals prone to body piercings.

Actor Jesse Plemons is getting another chance to show that he is one of the hottest faces in Hollywood today. And the conflict with the group of thugs that he commands is one of the darkest, most desperate moments in the film.

Garland certainly got enough out of a meager budget. There is no doubt that the pieces of America that have been plundered and the remains of civilization that are shown are quite amazing. But the viewer must not make one mistake: start thinking. Which is very strange for a writer, screenwriter and director of later works who use the genre of science fiction, thriller or horror for purposes more ambitious than suspense and entertainment.

Although the civil war still draws attention as much as the author wants to say that the world is very close to such a state. One of the heroes, for example, represents “what’s left of the New York Times”. But such vague but vague ideas underline the greatness of Garland’s future America but a vague vision, the most primitive attempt at political obedience.

Civil War is more suggestive than Garland’s failed adaptation of the science fiction novel Annihilation. And compared to the movie Ex Machina or the series Devs the director is not fooled by his own acting this time.

Both of these projects failed simply because of the lifeless attempt to solve the famous big themes of science fiction, whether it was the boundary between man and artificial intelligence, or the nature of free- please

This time, Garland made a simpler and more political sci-fi, in which the characters no longer have a place to encourage others to listen to Johann Sebastian Bach and John Coltrane, or to quote William Shakespeare.

But if the earlier ones rusted the paper, there are no characters in Civil War. Garland saves it with style and speed. But even the most desperate horror scenes end with momentary poignancy. Behind every audio-visual surprise there is a question mark, what kind of heroes are we watching, why do they look like just a torso of journalists who just jump anywhere with their camera and who put their own lives and others at risk for some – often relatively worthless – a picture of some random scaring.

Alex Garland made an impressive canapé. But it is still true that he can not influence his views. As in his previous work, strong cinematic images fight with what remains in their background. And this time, the stronger the images, the emptier everything will be in the background.