Civil War (2024) and Zombieland (2009)

The new film Civil War is directed by the same director of Ex Machina, a movie I loved and think of as a modern masterpiece. This new film sounded really intriguing to me, and though I liked watching it I was a bit disappointed overall. I like the premise and potential to have a memorable comment on society but I saw it as more of a road trip/relationship movie. The title - in my opinion - is not what I would have titled it. Especially after recently visiting Atlanta and the southern USA and seeing some real 1800s civil war monuments and markers. The American civil war period of history is fresh in my head; I don't know what I would title this film, but not that. Yeah, there's a civil war going on in the background, but it is an ambiguous one, as it's not really clear what each side is for and against. 

Nevertheless, the movie's focus is more on the 4 main characters - photojournalists who want to capture and cover what is going on as best they can, and travel together from point A to point B in a car. Hence, a road trip movie. We get to learn a little about each character, and a little about each's motivations, but not as much; more depth to the characters could have been there. It's just an "Okay" movie to me. 

A memorable character is played by Cailee Spaeny, who plays a young rookie who looks up to Kristen Dunst's character. Though the characters have potential, I was not always convinced by what was happening and what they were saying; some of the dialogue just didn't seem to feel natural to me. For example, there's a scene early on where Dunst has to carry her luggage up 10 flights of stairs and Cailee meets her at the stairwell and says how much she wants to help. Dunst brushes her off but I would asked them to help me carry up the luggage. Also not once in two hours do we hear any of the characters talk camera tech. For example, no one talks about camera or about what zoom lens they're using or ISO or aperture settings. Not that we need to know, but a few drops of tech knowledge would give a sense of "yeah they really know what they're doing". And at one point Cailee even mentions a need to change film, but in the future - film is still being used? 

The movie ended on kind of a sad note, but also placed emphasis on the survival of the Cailee character. I walked away with the idea that this movie is really about the survival and resoluteness of her character, and her relationship with Kristen Dunst. This movie has something to say about staying neutral while documenting what is going on around you, no matter what side you are on. These characters don't have a side; they never talk about politics. Although a little opinion here and there might not have hurt.  I did enjoy the music and the soundtrack. 

I thought of Zombieland (and it's sequel) while watching this because I remembered it had been awhile since I saw it. I really enjoyed that movie and its sequel, which were also road trips during a dystopian/future era. What more do you need but a group of humans battling zombies and traveling together as a group, exchanging witty banter and cleverly observing their surroundings. After being a bit disappointed by Civil War, I think I may go and revisit those movies again. 

The podcast Film Junk recently talked about this movie in detail and had lot of interesting takes on it:
https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/30879823

Another Review from the blog Out There In The Dark: 
Out There In The Dark: Thoughts on the Movies: "Civil War"

A review from The Magnificent 60s

Critic After Dark

A review from Deep Focus Lens who also struggled with this film -