Mark Kermode reviews Civil War - Kermode and Mayo's Take

Civil War quite a yes quite a movie quite the thing so Garland was a writer first the novel of the beach 28 Days Later 28 years later he's coming um went on to direct XM in a Annihilation um he's got this he said that this is his last directorial work and it's his most expens I think it's A2 24's most expensive film a $50 million a house movie um at the beginning of the iMac screening he said uh I can't believe they're blowing this up to IMX I can't believe they can do it and then he left and we all watched it on the biggest screen possible so non-specific future very non-specific United States has turned against itself dictator president in the White House Texas and California are in an alliance as the Western forces against the federal government militias are everywhere journalists traveling from one area to the next on route to Washington to interview the president that's what they're trying to do um C D's Lee she's working out on the front line with a young girl kayy spany who is she's sort of become so unlikely prodige first thing to say is it's not the film of the trailer the trailer makes you look like a Marvel movie in the first hour of the film will have you wondering when the Marvel movie starts um it is an evocation of a dystopian future that's very effective the war torn streets are War torn but there's also that weirdness about rolling into a town where the war doesn't appear to be happening there's a dress shop selling hats uh dun is very good as the Lee Miller esque photo journalist um Don McCollin was mentioned that I said this before but Dom Mell was my next door neighbor when I was a kid his son Paul was one of my very best friends um the weakest thing I think from the writing point of view is the young Shutterbug I think that K spy who's brilliant in Priscilla does her best with it but I think that feels like a movie Construction the young person who wants you know did just of all the things that didn't quite ring true that was it um Jesse plens is a total scene steal he's only on screen for about was it 10 15 minutes if that and he's you know you've seen it in the trailer but it's just anyway so Garland was saying you know pose and don't answer a question is it apolitical or is is it political okay he's said elsewhere that um I he said in that thing you know it's a if you don't to make a lecture or a Fool's errand and um Robbie of this Parish said that the film is neither anti-trump nor anti-woke um which is pretty much right the focus is polarization the film deliberately plays its immediate politics close to its chest and as Garin said in an age of polarization you don't want to make a movie that's polarizing that said the message is in there I mean you said look it's a fight against fascism it's this president he's in the White House in his third term the thing with the FBI in the you you heard Alex say yes and Kirsten nodded so that it was like they were relieved to actually say it's not a I mean it is a political but it's not really yeah it's constructed in order to allow people of all political Persuasions to find a way in but I think it's it's not true to say it is apolitical now I know that some of the problems with it have been you know both sides ISM but I think that actually he does that quite well um it certainly it was it's very powerful and I came out of it thinking wow that was really strong I remember thinking about 45 minutes in this is a lot slower than the trailer had suggested and there is an awful lot of kind of you know character backstory and some of it quite sort of movie character backstory but once it really gets going it's very very strong I don't know that IMAX was the best place to see it because I almost feel like there's so much going on in the character and the dialogue stuff that it might be better to slight slightly step away but I don't know I mean I saw it in IMAX and it looked pretty good particularly considering the cameras they were using hadn't intended that so you know if you want to go see it and I make sure but I don't think it is apolitical I think as Alex Garland said when you asked that question the fact that you asked that question kind of demonstrates that it isn't apolitical so it's a very good evocation of dystopian future world it deliberately confounds people by having the Texas California Alliance so who was going sorry what what what which side are we on and all the way through whenever they arrive anywhere you're not sure who anyone is and that is this is something terrible that's happened you don't know who has committed that and I think that is very well sustained so I like it very much I thought it was very powerful like I said I'm slightly less than convinced by the relationship between the old photojournalist and the young upcoming photojournalist I just thought from a writing point of view that was slightly on the nose but otherwise I it was pretty solid and there's a moment where they talk that Kirsten dun's character became famous because of uh in the dialogue of the film they say because of her photographs of the antifa Massacre yeah and it's and you don't know whether antifa have carried out the massacre or it's they who have been massacred you okay fine so that's the line that we're walking that happens all the way through the film and that is how it is designed you can take you know exception to that but that is what it is

Channel: Kermode and Mayo's Take

Views: 207,874

Keywords: Mark Kermode, Simon Mayo, Kermode and Mayo's Take, Film Review, TV Review

Id: xvgrix7yv_w

Length: 4min 51sec (291 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2024