Civil War (2024) OR How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Fellow Citizens

In the not-so-distant future....the United States of America is in a state of civil war. A tyrannical third-term President bombs American citizens as states succeed from the Union. Breakaway states seize military equipment and march towards Washington DC. In the chaos, a small group of journalists make their way through a suffering nation, determined to get a story before rebel forces execute the President.  

Alex Garland's Civil War is a movie that hits hard at this moment in history  It doesn't venture too far into the realm of politics, but instead charts a course into the darker parts of the internet where bots and trolls whisper and pray for domestic chaos and insurrection in the lower 48. Civil War doesn't reveal how the conflict started, but it does show how it could end and, more importantly, what it will cost if such a calamity comes to pass. It is a movie that should be viewed with the utmost seriousness by the right, the left and those who call for anarchy. 

THE EDGE

The greatest detractor to Civil War is also what makes it accessible to the entire political spectrum. Garland, quite purposefully, did not include the details about how the conflict in Civil War started. He spoke about his reasoning during a terrific interview with Michael Kosta on the Daily Show.

While Garland ensures he won't be lambasted by detractors for taking an ideological stance in this film, he does leave the audience with the feeling of a huge hole in the story. While Civil War does make a point about the brutality of war and the inhumanity of men the picture has lost its uniqueness as soon as it earned it. There are plenty of movies that talk about the monsters these events make of people.

The lack of a greater political story leaves Civil War with only one unique aspect, the setting. The definitive aspect that sets Civil War apart from other war movies, is the setting. It is familiar and alarming. The destruction of monuments in Washington DC is nothing new if you have been watching movies for the last 30-odd years, movies like Independence Day, 2012 and Olympus Has Fallen all destroy the American capital in gob-smacking ways. But in each of these movies, the destruction is carried out by either a natural disaster or a foreign enemy. Civil War depicts Americans destroying America in a way that has not been seen before.

Americans destroying Americans is best captured in the scene where our intrepid group of journalists stumble upon a militia led by Jesse Plemons. Our heroes catch them in the middle of burying people in a mass grave. Plemons is in the movie for about 5 minutes, he's vindictive, he's cruel and he steals the show. 

THE LOWDOWN

Civil War does a lot with not a lot of money. It has a reported budget of $50 million. It's incredible to think that here we are in 2024 and a $50 million movie feels like it's low-budget when compared to just about every other movie out in theatres. I hope there are movie movies like this. Better story, less money, and big concepts. 

Civil War is, for the most part, a road movie. The majority of it was shot on location in Atlanta and the surrounding area. Shooting on location is draining on a crew. It means that at the start of every day you have to unpack your gear from the trucks, shoot for a whole day (probably from sun up to sunset) then pack the trucks again, which might take hours. Once the trucks are packed, a transport team drives them to the next day's location. The producers would try to keep locations centralized to minimize the number of times you would have to move the trucks. Bottom line, it's tough.

Shortly before Civil War's release, Alex Garland made it known that he would never direct another movie. This came as a great surprise to many who enjoy his films, this reviewer included. As good a reputation as Garland has, and he does have a great reputation, it can't be great going to work for a director who is ready to move on. I completely understand why he might want to walk away from the role. It can be extraordinarily gruelling. A director's day doesn't end when shooting is finished, they very often have to do some sort of prep for the next day, and there are meetings and phone calls. If you don't have some half-descent producers next to you it can be hell. That pressure rolls downhill, as much as you wouldn't want it to.

Civil War features some of the best use of BG players that I've seen in a movie. So often when building a scene the work of a BG player is mundane. It's walking down a sidewalk, shimmying through an office or sitting in a restaurant. In Civil War, there are no mundane scenes. Every player has to do a little more work to make the scene real. The opening scene at the water truck is a great example of this. The players involved go the extra mile and sell the scene

THE JIST

Civil War is not a perfect movie but it's pretty darn good. It is a rarefied film that confronts this moment in history with an immediacy and horror that ought not to be ignored. I would have loved to be a part of this one, somehow.

What did you think of Civil War? Let us know in the comments! Is there a movie or TV show you want us to take a look at? Send us an email showbizhobo@gmail.com