A24 Films released their third movie of 2024 titled Civil War directed by Alex Garland on April 12, and it is a must watch.
This film does an amazing job delivering a clenching cinematic experience. From the opening scene all the way to just about the end gives you everything you want in a good film.
However, the ending sells what was a great film short of that needed factor to make it truly amazing.
You will still not be able to keep your eyes off of the screen, not even for a second.
Garland does a great job telling a story but he sells the ending way short. The ending kind of cheapens the overall experience of the film as it was very quick and empty.
With that being said this movie deserves a solid 4.5 out of five stars, solely because the ending needed to be a little bit more focused on.
Most of the negative reviews given for this film are from viewers who didn’t read the description beforehand expecting some war shooter film. Yes it is filled with a bunch of war action, but that is not the point of the film, the point is to take you through war in the eyes of journalists’. It is still a war movie, yes, but war isn’t the main focus of the film.
The audience reviews on Google are for the most part two sided, people either love it or they hate it. With the majority of the reviews coming in at a five star or a one star rating.
The overall reviews of the movie are pretty good, however, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 82%, IMBDb at 7.6/10 and Metracritic giving it a 77%.
Civil War follows a group of journalists through their journey south from New York to Washington D.C. amidst an erupting American Civil War. Their goal is to interview the President, Nick Offerman, about his motives for starting the war. The cast of the journalist team includes Kirsten Dunst(Lee), Cailee Spaeny(Jessie), Wagner Moura(Joel), and Stephen McKinley Henderson(Sammy).
While watching you get to see war from a different point of view rather than the usual soldier or civilian. There are no huge battles or grand speeches but a lot of scenes that will have your eyebrows raised or have you questioning certain decisions.
Garland does a good job depicting a two side war but with a trusting few people, keep yourself alive, type of feeling for the film.
The reason for the war is never really explained and that doesn’t matter. There isn’t a good or bad side and that doesn’t matter.
What matters in the film is to show that in a situation of a Civil War anyone will fight, kill, bomb, they will do anything to stay alive.
The ending of the film definitely leaves a door open for the studio to make a sequel. However, if A24 Films did want to make a sequel that should be the last Civil War film.
