Quote (Kayeto @ Apr 14 2024 01:05pm)
Civil War
I somehow found this to be a bad movie while also being a great piece of art that makes me glad we have the medium of movies available to us.
Cons:
The writers were careful to avoid anything that could be seen as thought-provoking, even in the broadest metaphorical sense. I went in knowing that the movie was not going to deliver any direct political commentary, so I wasn't disappointed by its absence. But I did at least think that they'd pose some philosophical questions about journalism or give us some symbolic images to apply as shorthand to future political discussions. But I literally walked out with nothing to talk about to the person I saw it with.
The idea to make them "photo journalists" completely removed any pretense of brain-usage from the characters. Kirsten Dunst even explicitly said "we are journalists who don't ask any questions".
Anytime the plot introduced something that could have been thoughtful, it was undermined by a quick cut-away or some violent distraction. There were even scenes where they movie made it abundantly clear that they were not going to say who any of the characters were. And it even directly called the audience the r-word for daring to ask.
Pros:
Everything about the way the scenes were shot. Every bit of the sound design. Alex Garland could produce a commercial that would sell ice to eskimos.
ya it was not even as good as all the instagram promotions made it out to be. definitely baited and switched