AS ONE of the greats in Australian cinema, Mad Max burst onto the international scene in the 80's with three films. With the fourth film in the series being put in development hell; however, the Road Warrior's adventures disappeared from the silver screen. Today, in 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road has finally been released, and not only is it looking to be the best of the series, but also the best movie of the year so far.
Bold claim? Yes, but once you go and watch the film yourself, you'll know why I can say with such confidence.
Mad Max: Fury Road follows yet again the story of Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) in a post-apocalyptic world where barren, dry wastelands stretch on for miles. Max is captured by War Boys, the personal army of Immortan Joe, a post-apocalyptic tyrant who rules a community living in the Citadel. Max is designated as a "blood bag" for War Boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult) while Immortan Joe sends out a party led by Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) on a supply run. When Furiosa goes off course and confirms Joe's suspicions of her smuggling precious cargo away from him, Immortan Joe sends all of his War Boys after her to reclaim what is his. With Max still hooked up to Nux as he joins the hunt for Furiosa, a high-octane adventure across the wasteland ensues.
The number one thing that's great about Fury Road is its action. Though we've had great action-packed movies in Kingsman and Furious 7 this year, Fury Road ups the ante by several notches over those two. When I say that this movie is gripping, I mean it in the sense that you will literally be gripping the armrests of the theater seats and I am not exaggerating when I say that I remember to breathe at the end of every action sequence.
You'd think that watching a car chase for nearly two hours straight would be boring, but Fury Road does more than enough throughout that time to make each encounter fresh and keep you on the edge of your seat. Truth be told, Fury Road is pretty much a series of action sequences played out one after another, with very little downtime in between.
Every action sequence plays out like a musical piece performed by an orchestra, starting out calmly and slowly building up and rising to a crescendo where it maintains its intensity for much longer than usual, then dropping off for a little while until it begins to pick up the pace once again. Seriously, for anyone who complains of action movies having too much talking, this is the movie for them.
The little talking that we do get from Fury Road, however, is what sets it apart from other action blockbusters this year. While Kingsman and Furious 7 both had more playful tones to them, Fury Road takes a more serious route with a well thought-out plot and themes. Other action movies that try to be too serious for their own good often times end up feeling awkward or just flat out not making sense with how over-the-top the action is and how serious the script is.
In Fury Road's post-apocalyptic world where almost anything goes, although things do get a little over-the-top and crazy, the writers have done a fantastic job in writing scenarios that some perfectly viable in the Mad Max universe and keep things from getting too out of hand.
I take my hat off to the writers for some absolutely stellar writing. Although Fury Road could have gotten away with just being an action movie with bullets and explosions everywhere, they managed to write a compelling story with themes of sex slavery, redemption and as some would even say, feminism. The best part is that none of these themes feel out of place or are just skirted around and left. The plots surrounding these themes are all introduced properly, explored substantially and resolved satisfactorily. It's hard to discuss these without spoiling plot points, but if you watch the film and look out for them, you'll find they're difficult to miss.
I also have praise for the emotional aspect of the film. Nux and Furiosa are such well-written and well-developed characters that you can really feel yourself rooting for them in the face of the struggles they face in the film. Although Max is the main character of the film, he comes across as more of a Godsend or force of nature that comes along to help solve the problems of people in the wasteland and go on his way. Like a quintessential wandering badass if you will. Don't get me wrong, Max has his own personal struggle having to with some demons to exorcise, but it's not nearly as fleshed out as Nux's and Furiosa's are. Nux is my personal favorite for this film, with how dynamic his character is and how I nearly teared up when he finally has that moment of redemption that he's been searching for all along.
Objectively, however, Charlize Theron's performance as Furiosa is the best of the three leads in the film. I've always hated stereotypical damsel in distress types of female characters, so to have such a strong female character in Furiosa who can carry her own weight and whom others can trust their lives with in such a hostile world is nothing but good for cinema. And it's not just in the writing. I admire Charlize Theron's ability to portray a steely, determined woman who stays cool, calm and collected in the midst of all the chaos in the movie. Cinema needs more of these female characters who are more than capable of taking the reins and lead with full confidence.
Also, that being said, I'd like to note the chemistry between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in the film. First off, I'm glad that they didn't try to shoehorn some sort of romantic angle between the two and kind of cheapen the characters. Secondly, I like how they both were able to have their characters click somehow. Again, it's not romantic, but more in the sense of being "war buddies" or something of the sort, looking out for each other's survival.
And last but definitely not least, the vehicle design is top notch. Although many of the cars look like a sort of Frankenstein job, they all look perfect for the setting. The rust and spikes on so many of the vehicles tell a story of a harsh wasteland and the need to build vehicles that can hold their own on in a land inhabited by hostile forces. It looks just how you'd expect someone to make their vehicles if there was danger lurking everywhere. Some might ask what my excuse is for the drums and guitar truck, and all I can say is it's one of the coolest imaginations of a post-apocalytpic military band/rallying point I have ever seen. Again, it may be crazy, but in their world, it's totally viable.
Simply put, Mad Max: Fury Road isn't just one of the best action movies to come out this year, it's one of the best movies yet. While we're used to having to settle for either quality action or quality plot/themes, Fury Road shows that you do not have to sacrifice one for another. Mad Max: Fury Road delivers on both style and substance, and boy, does it deliver generously.
Mad Max Score: 9.7/10