Mad Max: Fury Road – Film Review
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Mad Max…Is there anything this film does wrong?
The newest iteration of Mad Max has recently been released on DVD and Blu-Ray, a full 20 years since the previous one, and it’s gorgeous. It’s the very epitome of action: no love stories, no mushy stuff, just chase scenes, blowing up cars, and Tom Hardy generally being hardcore. The film was directed by the original Mad Max director George Miller, and is essentially what the original would have looked like had they had the capacity to do the stunts and effects. It’s fantastically well directed, and keeps you engaged until the very end.
We start with Max giving a small monologue: how he lost everything. And how when you lose everything you are brought down to one primal instinct. Survive. From here it’s car stunts, shooting, and lots of explosions. But it’s all in good taste. Tom Hardy is a believable, crazier Max, having flashbacks of who we assume is his daughter. He, Furiosa (exiled driver of the War Boys, after stealing Immortan Joe’s wives), another exiled War Boy, and the wives all make a very unlikely team, as they drive, smash, shoot and survive throughout the desert wasteland. There is a certain synergy to each of the characters and how they work together.
The film has a few moments of comedy, actually. It’s a very fun film, and all the while we just can’t help but think ‘oh poor Max, poor sweet Max’. His day just goes from bad to worse. From nearly being branded by the War Boys, to being swung on a huge pole past an explosion. (see below).
The main antagonist Immortan Joe is a perfect counterpart to the film, as he and his War Boys almost represent a very damning view of religion, as his followers want to be ‘witnessed’ as they sacrifice themselves for their superiors. They treat cars as their deities, and (as we can see through practical effects), they are given the same amount of love and affection that this film was shown.
The film is amazing. Probably the best action film of the year, and given the way it ends, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a sequel in the next few years.