Mrs. Boris and I went to see Civil War the movie yesterday. Lately there has been a lot of buzz surrounding this movie. It became something of a meme before it was even released, and seems to be doing quite well. Before seeing it some people were panning it a bit or so I’d heard. I’m going to say it now, SPOILER ALERT! I’m actually going to try not to spoil too much. I’m really NOT going to spoil the “what kind of American are you?” scene. (I decided I don’t care about spoilers, that scene got spoiled for me reading something and it didn’t really hurt my perception of the movie at all) So with that let’s dig into this!
First off this is as much or more of a movie about journalists, photo journalism and being a combat correspondent as a war movie. Mrs. Boris commented on how artistically done the cinematic style was, and I’d agree. I love black and white photography and the young reporter with her vintage Nikon and field film development kit was extremely cool to me! I am now wondering about seeing if i have enough extra stuff to make my own portable development kit. Also makes me want more old Canon F1 stuff. Canon F1’s, F1n and Nikon F3 are some of my favorite cameras. I like old cameras what can I say? Ok I’m OT again but this aspect was the first thing my Luv mentioned and indeed as I said, as a B&W photographer and old camera guy, this touched me. Now what with the hate of journalists anymore, having the old Lou Grant/Animal style of the old school ethos of journalism has immediately put off a lot of people. I don’t think a lot of the people out in real life doing this anymore do a good job. Some of it is not the reporters fault it is whoever runs the outlet and their editorial decisions that are ruining, have ruined the legacy media credibility. I felt like there were subtle nods to Gonzo journalism, a vibe too kind of like The Hurt Locker, combat and Combat journalism being the high for adrenaline junkies. Also I thought of the movie We Were Soldiers, a true story written by a combat correspondent. Very different movies but a bit of correlation worth mentioning I think. I love that movie anyway, see it if you haven’t! Anyway this is very much a movie about journalism and it’s ethics and principles in many respects. I think they did a good job. Kirsten Dunst was excellent, and unfortunately I don’t think in real life a lot of journalists live up to the standards or ideals, whatever it IS necessary to the plot of this movie.
Going into this movie you kinda have to suspend disbelief and enter the world of the civil war. I’m going to make a lot of speculations here. I was having the most fun in the movie trying to figure out who the different factions were and the backstory of this whole thing. Be prepared for it to be chaotic. You do not know who are people they run into. The backstory being that these journos are taking a road trip from NYC to DC in the waning days of a modern American civil war, a CW 2. It’s the near future , probably within a decade of our current TL, or maybe parallel? It’s often eerie calm, always tense. Punctuated by chaos and intense violence. The threat of snipers looms. They talk of the Western Alliance in the movie as one of the factions. Apparently Texas and Cali have seceded and created an Alliance of some sort. Portland Maoists are also mentioned. The USG as currently constituted are apparently the bad guys and DC’s fall is imminent. There’s mentioned the antifa massacre, but they don’t elaborate. So basically this is a dystopian road trip movie. A journalism, war and road trip. The music I thought was really good, the sound design in general was. This one definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. One shootout depicted guys in Hawaiian shirts, the Boogaloo I guess. I’m not quite clear who they were fighting. I’m not sure if USG or Western alliance or someone else? I’m not sure who the Boog bois were fighting for. I feel like they’ve studied some of the Ukraine war footage and did a good job capturing some authenticity of feeling like you’re watching someone of that footage.
OK ive said about all i can say. I really don’t want to spoil it for you. I will not spoil the famous scene with the red glasses guy other than to say the trailers don’t spoil it at all. So I honestly don’t see peoples criticisms about this movie being too unrealistic that I’ve heard. Ok here’s a big one, is this a Psyop? I mean idk, maybe? I don’t think timing is coincidental in an election year. Still, probably more timed to make money tbh. I thought they did a great job of being fairly apolitical, and overall I really enjoyed this movie. It’s artistic, though provoking, I give them high marks for doing something original because it’s pretty rare these days. Double bonus points for doing it well! So i hope you enjoyed my review. I definitely think this one is a must see!
Midwest Pistol Combat Systems 