Civil War * * * ½

Hello? Anybody Home?

The last film I saw of Alex Garland - Men -  started off very well and ended up as a pile of manure.  This time it's the other way round. Okay, the beginning of Civil War isn't quite a pile of manure, but I certainly found it unengaging.

As the title suggests The United States are "united" no more and are having a civil war.  You'd think they'd have learned from the last one that civil wars aren't really a good idea.  But that's America for you: from Korea to Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, they never learn anything from war, so its unsurprising if they're dumb enough to fight themselves.

Actually I can't figure out how two seceding states can form an army strong enough to take on the rest of the United States, but there you go.  All hail Texas and California.  The politics behind it all are not given in detail.  We just know it happened. When we are introduced to our lead characters the war has been raging for some time and the U.S. civil war is starting to look like one of those African civil wars. Not pretty.

The story is told through photojournalists and word journalists.  Primarily the photojournalists. Kirsten Dunst plays one of them. Her name is Lee and she is well known for her brave work. She will go anywhere and stick her lens into anything. 

A young amateur photojournalist, Jessie (played by Cailee Spaeny) is enamored by Lee and manages to tag along with her and another journalist Joel, who is supposed to be a reporter but he never seems to write anything. He wants to interview The President and ask him the big question.  So they decide to drive from New York to Washington DC.

"You're mad!" says a wizened old journalist when he hears of their plan, but then he tags along for the ride too, making it a foursome in a Ford with "PRESS" daubed on the side.

Aside from the occasional skirmish and witnessing of inhumanity, it's a bit dull as we get to know these somewhat cliched characters.  But little Jessie learns that if you want to photograph shocking things you're going to have to witness shocking things. 

(In her private life actress Kirsten Dunst is married to actor Jess Plemons, maybe that's how he got invited  to do a cameo), I don't know, but after Plemons brief and absolutely frightening appearance as a psychopathic soldier wearing rose coloured glasses things get better.  You can actually feel the lift in the pace of the film.  

Now shocked and terrified to the point of being barely functional they press on with Joel determined to get his interview with Mr. President.

But how will they get into The White House?  Well the two state army have the same intention and they are well on the way, so hitching up with them should help.  Now things really hot up as they march toward the capital  

In the meantime the roles of Lee and young Jessie take an inevitable and predictable dynamic. Jessie girl learns all too quickly about the importance of objectivity in photojournalism, but it's still shocking to witness when she practices it to the latter.

Civil War has some great scenes -  I particularly liked the town that is barely aware that their country is at war - but overall it's difficult to read much into it beyond fantasy.  Forget all that prophetic stuff.  It's far too light for that.

I found most of the characters a bit two dimensional despite the best efforts of the performers.  Having one person saying to another, "So, tell me about yourself", is not really the most creative way to get to explore a character. 

At other times it can be shocking enough to border on horror, a bit like a Zombie movie with people so degenerated death would be merciful. And sometimes the risks Lee and Jessie take to get the photo would make Batman think twice.

There are many scenes which make you wonder how and why?  Especially Jessie shooting on thoroughly impractical 35mm film, and Joel who is a hard drinking, chain smoking "journalist" who never seems to write or record anything.