Have you seen Alex Garland's Civil War? Perhaps not, because you dread a deluge of leftist propaganda, fair call. But I think you'll be surprised to find the film doesn't go down that path. It's shot through the lens of a crew of journalists on a mission to interview the President even as secessionist forces are closing in on DC.
So what follows is an attempted objective account of the horrors of war, not least a civil one, and Garland does a good job. Kirsten Dunst plays her part admirably as a hard-bitten combat journalist, her young protege ain't bad, elder NYT(!) journo veteran does the job and adrenaline fueled Joel (Wagner Moura) is on target and there you have it, an SUV of journos travelling from NYC to DC via Pittsburgh in the midst of a civil war.
.jpg)
There's a few moments of dread in the journey, though the violence is underplayed for the most part, and you'll be surprised to note secessionist forces are apparently color blind. Black, white, whatever have banded together to overthrow a tyrannical President (Nick Offerman), and they do. One race, human, against a corrupt despot. Nice.
Right on, and the WF, led by something which looks suspiciously like 1st Cav, hit DC and take out an ignominious, lying tyrant. Keen-eyed viewers will note he's shot in the end by a FPOC (Female Person Of Color), who is also the Sergeant in charge of the requisite kill team, ahem.
OK, the movie's not perfect but it does manage to steer a course between current partisan friction as if to report on a civil war that's actually going down, with all the inane wickedness therein. Are the combat scenes good? You be the judge, gentle readers, and you'll note our beloved ruler gets shot inside his DC fastness. What a good ending.
Watch Civil War, it's streaming on Amazon.
Topical, what?
LSP
PS. For a real review, written by a real journalist from, errrr, AP, go here.
PPS. Does the objective journalist still exist? My only real cavil about this flick is that it's main protagonists, the journos, are really well played, I recognize them even, from the past, but are they feasible today, much less tomorrow. That in mind, Civil War might be slated as a retrospective cast in the future. Dystopian, yes, but the real dystopia, from this flick's POV, would be the journalists themselves. Here, they're cast as truth tellers. I won't bang on.
