 Ooh, talk about a hot release date. Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys. Hey guys, this is my review for Civil War. This is written and directed by Alex Garland, director of other films like Annihilation and Ex Machina, as well as Writer for films like 28 Days Later in Sunshine. This is actually the most expensive movie that A24 has ever made, if I'm correct, it got up to about $100 million. And then of course, the subject material. Obviously with everything going on right now and all the tensions that's going on, everyone's going, is this a good movie to release right now? And I feel that it is because it can show what can happen. And but the thing that it also does, and that is what is being given from the perspective of the journalist in this film, is that war-torn areas look the same no matter what, whether it's in a first world or if it's in a third world. The idea of government and policy and human decency sort of falling apart in some places but still holding on in others was really cool to see in a terrifying aspect because the whole time the movie is trying to make you feel uncomfortable. At the same time though, for those of you who are wanting some sort of political leaning in this movie, there isn't one. The film is kind of showing that everyone can be good and be bad at the same time depending on whose view they are. But however, the president who's played by Ron Swanson, you kind of get this kind of sleazy vibe and as you learn more and more about his policies and his government reign, he kind of you him as like this pirate, this dictator who has taken over and in the country itself is either siding with him or it is coming together against him. It's not the idea of left or right fighting each other, it is the idea of a country coming together to take down a dictator sort of. The film of course is following along with the photojournalist team, one of them being played by Kristin Dunson, there's also this girl, this who's coming into this group. She has ambition, she has drive, she also has a film camera, which of course she does, she's the youngest one and of course she's using a film camera. She is basically who we are in this film. We are seeing these events for the first time, whereas Kirsten and her group have seen many a terrible thing, many a horrible thing. Now speaking of political leanings, there are some people who might be kind of coming at this going, hey, you know, obviously with how journalism has been acting the last few years, is it really worthy to trust them? And I can say, yes, I understand that. I went to school for journalism and as I was graduating, things started to change to be much more opinionated, which wasn't what journalism is, it is about documenting what is happening and showing it to other people and having them come up with their own opinions based on that information. And that is what the goal initially is of Kirsten's group. The whole point of what their jobs are is that they go to these shitty areas, they show how terrible it is and they bring it back to First World countries to say, hey, this could be us if we fuck it up. That is unfortunately not stopped that from happening and we see this country kind of unfold into whether you are a person who's willing to help into one another or senselessly in violence and whether you are fighting for yourself, fighting for your country, fighting for your fellow people. And then down to brass tacks, this movie is a road trip because the whole point is that they're going to Washington DC. I liked a lot of the situations that they went through. There was one in particular that you've seen from the trailer with Jesse Plumbins, really, really good. But there are some other elements too that feel a little bit disjointed and that kind of comes from the music. The music choices in this movie are, they're weird. There's one that made me feel almost nauseous and it was just because of how loud it was. Maybe that was the point. I think that's what Garland's trying to do is he's trying to weave this uncomfortable story. With notes of familiarity, whether with the music he chooses, the images you see, the settings that you come across are the actions of other people. If there are some complaints, there's one part of the movie where someone is hurt and they kind of just don't do anything about it. Like, I understand that they probably would be limited in what they could do, but it's just a really weird scene. It feels like something's missing and that leads me into my biggest complaint about this movie is that I wanted more. I wanted more world building. I wanted more about what was going on and what had led to these moments. I wanted a little bit more backstory. I wanted a little bit definitely after the ending because the ending I feel a little bit mixed about. One part of me doesn't like it at all because there's some corny stuff that happens in it. It's just like, oh, okay, I get it. I get what you're trying to do. But on the other hand, I did like how it ended with the entire grandiose climax of it. For a film that was basing itself in this material, it does a really good job of well-representing it. And there might be some people out there going, oh, well, this is really overly glorifying what photojournalists do. They don't get into these sort of situations. I will point you towards Rostropo, which was a 2010 film about the war in Afghanistan where these two guys, Tim Henerington, Heatherington and Sebastian Younger, were in war-torn heavy activity, heavy bombardment areas of the entire war. And they are there in the trenches with the other guys getting the shit shot out of them. And these guys were so fucking committed to what they did that Tim died in Libya in 2011. So these guys have balls. They have the gusto to go to these situations and cover them as they are. Like I said, I felt that that was warranted. I felt like they're daring to do these things and to cover these events was truthful. So in the end, my thoughts on Civil War, it's an uncomfortable movie for the good reason. There is no heavy-handed leaning towards it because the situation itself is grandiose as it is. For those of you who are wanting something like that, that's not what Alex Garland wanted to make. He didn't wanna make something filled with Fox News and CNN and whatnot. He just wanted to focus on regular people and people covering what's happening for those regular people in this conflict. In the end, I'm gonna give Civil War five out of seven. Like I said, I really liked the production value, where the story went. It was a little bit heavy-handed in some spots. There's also some disjointedness in it. And it feels like there definitely could have been more. And that's probably the biggest kind of regret for me is I wanted more from this movie. But I still liked it. Anyways, guys, that's all for me. What did you guys think about it? Let me know in the comments below. And otherwise, guys, I hope you enjoyed this review. If you did, leave a like and if you're just more subscribed. Until then, see you guys next time.