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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Directed by George Miller

Action | Disaster | Science Fiction

Most recently watched by lordofthemovies, CaptainBigTime, VicnaLobster, sensoria, sleestakk, schofizzy, jeneot33, archstanton43, pinedemort, Javitron

Overview

An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.

Rated R | Length 121 minutes

Actors

Viewing History (seen 1 time)


Date Viewed	Device	Format	Source	Rating
05/16/2015	Movie Screen	Digital	Theater	5 stars
				(Average) 5 stars

Viewing Notes

It’s been thirty years since Max has graced the cinema, so I was decidedly nervous that Miller was bringing the anti-hero back to the screen. I should not have been worried that the 70 year old director was returning to the high speed action genre he helped revolutionize with the Mad Max films, because the teacher is in and he still has lessons to drive into other action director’s heads out there. This is a phenomenal action film that manages to hang on to the little shred of humanity that is left in the insanity that is the world of Mad Max while delivering some of the most amazing stunts I’ve seen in an action film without relying on cg to sell the effect. I don’t know if it’s that we’ve seen effects work creep into every little thing, but seeing so much of this not fall back on that was refreshing.

The plot, thin as it is, is based around a chase film motif like most of the Mad Max films end up devolving into only this one is taking place throughout most of the film. It seems a madman named Immortan Joe has taken advantage of the fact that he controls he water supply for hundreds of people and built up quite the cult following along with a harem of wives who his fiercest warrior, Imperator Furiosa, has decided to abscond with in his War Rig as she makes her way across the desert to where she remembers home is.

Max, captured early on, ends up as a blood bag for one of Joe’s troops who happens to be dying and Max happens to be the lucky universal donor to keep feeding him blood as Joe’s troops tear off after Fuirosa. Accidents happen as often the case in high speed chases and Max ends up running with Furiosa while Joe and his band of misfits tries to hunt them down all while Max and Furiosa try to head east to the green land of her youth.

While the film is set in Max’s world and Max happens to be apart of all this as it hits the fan, this is very much Furiosa’s story and everyone else is along for the ride. Picking Charlize Theron for Furiosa was great casting. She brings this great weight to the role and you really feel a lot of what she and the others are going through by her skills on camera. Tom Hardy was a pretty goo substitute for Max, but he’s not given a whole lot of emoting to do. Nicholas Hoult as Nux though, has an interesting arc and like Charlize and the girls she’s rescued, have a pretty good story and character arc through all of the vehicular mayhem.

Speaking of vehicular mayhem, George Miller just reminded all of those action directors out there that you can in fact go mostly practical, you don’t need a damned handicam, and you can go with a longer cut than 2 or 3 seconds along with actually having some composition to the scene your filming and have it look amazing and be an action film. Could we finally be getting away from that Bayhem style of shooting? I mean I like Michael Bay, but when everyone is copying him it gets old. The shots here look meticulously set up. You know exactly what action is happening on screen in every shot, you can easily follow what’s going on screen, and yet it looks like one giant ball of chaos on screen that left me with my jaw hanging open and me often leaning well forward in my seat to see what happened next.

This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I have to say I think Miller has raised the bar when it comes to action films and that a more practical approach to a stunt can often be the most believable and audience invested thing you can put in a film. This is one of those films that just grabs you and tells you to hold on, and while I was optimistic about oing into this film, I feel like one of those frothing warriors of the wasteland having to go and tell everyone how damned good it is. What a lovely day.

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