Civil War - A War Action Movie With Heavy Political Theme and Drama

I was quite surprised to see this movie released on Tuesday as opposed to the usual Wednesday for the release of new films. But since it was public holiday yesterday, I did not have to wait till the weekend to see it. This time, I was accompanied by my wife even though she did not have any idea on the premise. Anyway, I'll just get right on it.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in USA where the government led by its President (Nick Offerman - Parks and Recreation TV series etc) was having to fight various states in a civil war across the country. Experienced war photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst - Interview with the Vampire, Elizabethtown etc) and her partner Joel (Wagner Moura - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Elysium etc) were planning to interview the president in Washington DC before his depleting army were defeated by the growing armies trying to bring him down.

Despite Lee's disapproval, an inexperienced photographer Jessie Cullen (Cailee Spaeny - Mare of Easttown mini series, Pacific Rim: Uprising etc) was also joining them on the very dangerous trip to DC, together with a veteran journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson - Devs TV series etc). 

So would the group be able to reach the location safely and achieve their mission? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Well that was a bit unexpected. I originally thought this would be a full action war movie, especially since the genre was classified as action in the cinema's website and apps. It was the reason why I wanted to give this a try with my wife in the first place. However it turned out that the film was more like a drama and the war was more like the background. Yes there were few action in the middle but the most intense part was only towards the end. Luckily it was not disappointing as it was pretty well executed and quite amazing to see, albeit with some disturbing scenes. 

Got to admit though, there were times where we kind of lost interest and felt a bit bored, especially during the long conversations in the early stage. The movie seemed to try very hard to explain the premise and issues through those dialogues, but I had a rather hard time to properly understand and had to figure out certain items by ourselves, such as the acronym of WF, the reason for the civil war and so on. I could only guess the reasoning which turned out to be correct, though it was only at latter stage when it was mentioned subtly. I also think the movie would probably be easier to understand if you know the way the politics work in the US and the different characteristics of the people.

The main story itself was pretty simple, which can be summed up as dangerous road trip during the time of war. But the rather specific geopolitical condition of the US made it a bit more complicated. Good thing the main cast did a pretty decent job which made it more enjoyable. I thought Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura were quite convincing here. Aside from those names, there were some support cast in minor roles such as Karl Glusman (Reptile etc) and Jin Ha (Pachinko TV series etc) as a spotter and sniper respectively, Nelson Lee (Blade: The Series etc) as Tony the reporter and few others. But the one that left a deep impression to us was Jesse Plemons (Windfall etc) as a ruthless militant. Btw the movie was written & directed by Alex Garland whose prior works included writing for 28 Days Later and directing the critically acclaimed Ex Machina.

One thing that my wife and I truly admired was the sound effects and the special effects on some scenes. I was a bit skeptical of the sound system in the studio we saw this but apparently it was unaccounted for since the Dolby Surround was awesome. The explosion and the bullets blazing sound could be heard so clearly that we felt we were in the middle of the war. And the aftermaths after bombs blown up were great as well since they looked realistic. What we really hated though was the subtitle which was done not by the usual translator with few mistakes and most annoyingly the translation of background songs (I mean what for??).

Overall this was an OK war action drama movie. The story was pretty interesting but not exactly that enjoyable for us. I think the premise of road trip might be easier to enjoy if it's a straight forward war between two countries. The intense moment involving Jesse Plemons character was the best for me, while the climax was pretty satisfying although rather predictable for us. There was no mid or post end credit scene here. So if you are interested in a positively reviewed war action drama with a very specific and heavy political theme, then you would likely be entertained by this. But if you are like me and my wife who preferred a simpler plot with more action, then likely you would have difficulty to really enjoy it.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars