Movies: Mad Max: Fury Road

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by George Miller
Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, et. al.
Running time:  120 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  With Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller has resurrected the franchise he created - and last visited 30 years ago.  Tom Hardy takes Mel Gibson's place in the title role, but the true lead belongs to co-star Charlize Theron - they make a good, if hesitant, team.  The film's true strength is its blistering action, focused on chase scenes in gnarly vehicles in a desert world.  Go along for the ride - it's a must-see.


In a post apocalyptic desert world, Max (Hardy) is a former patrol man whose family has been destroyed by elements of the uncivilized remains of humanity.  His own survival is precarious, and he quickly finds himself pursued and captured by a gang known as the War Boys.  Max is taken back to their home, an outpost ruled by the brutal, masked Immortan Joe.  From that same outpost, a commander named Furiosa (Theron) has taken a convoy to get more gasoline - but in reality has a different mission.  When Immortan Joe realizes this he orders his entire army of suicidal War Boys into pursuit on a fleet of modified and supercharged vintage vehicles, with Max along for the ride.

Eventually able to free himself, Max joins up with Furiosa.  Both flee from Immortan Joe but do not know or trust each other.  However, the two strong personalities must work together to avoid a shared grizzly demise.

In the frenzied journey that is Mad Max: Fury Road, there is relatively little dialogue but the cast still comes up with intriguing performances.  Tom Hardy plays the title character, Max; we get none of his backstory (three films made from 1979-1985) except brief, vague flashbacks to a traumatic past.  Max has little personality, the implication being that spending years alone in this desert world has stripped it from him.  Still, Hardy does a good job as a tough, sometimes brutal and even vulnerable action hero.  The real main character in fact, as you may have heard, is Charlize Theron's Furiosa.  Theron slips naturally into her role as a tougher-than-nails heroine, similar to Sigourney Weaver and the like.  The film doesn't give much space for character development, but Furiosa achieves the goal as coming off the equal, if not the stronger, in her partnership with Max.  Nicholas Hoult has the only other significant role, as the War Boy Nux.  He is quite good as a deranged acolyte of Immortan Joe early on, and still does alright when Nux starts to change later on.

The newest Mad Max is first and foremost a high-octane action film, and a damn well-made one at that; riding shotgun are several plots that succeed to varying degrees.  The film essentially comes down to one big chase, and so the vehicles used in that setting are almost characters themselves.  Moreso because they, unlike the gleaming but generic rides in Furious 7, are each customized creatures - big rig oil trucks with VW Beetle husks mounted on top; double-decker muscle cars; porcupine attack cruisers; etc. etc.  There are at least four main chase/fight scenes (amongst scattered thrills throughout - and limited CGI!), and each one has a new dynamic and new dangers to add; you almost start to cheer for Max and Furiosa's big rig itself.  Along with this, Mad Max keeps things fresh along the way by incorporating different filming techniques (the opening sequence is in semi-"fast forward"); gonzo, sometimes loony characters, behavior, and dialogue appropriate to this "mad" world; and a nifty, atmospheric score with everything from pounding percussion to hard rock to grand orchestral music.  It's the more straight-faced plot elements that are merely "meh".  Furiosa's backstory, mission, and pre-climactic "twist" are been-there-done-that, though decently executed.

***

With a stunning 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, Mad Max is widely viewed as one of the best films of the summer, if not the year, so far.  And I would agree, too, that it's one of the best pure action movies in years (this is the vehicle-based action franchise that deserves further entries, unlike some others *cough*).  What George Miller, the filmmaker who also created the series 35 years ago, understands is that there's a fine balance in great action films between excellent production and awe-inspiring moments on the one hand, and a level of craziness/creativity (that's different for each film) on the other.  I would hope to see some character development for Max, Furiosa and/or (even better) some new personalities in further entries.  The lack of this in Fury Road is not a mark against it, but rather a condition of the kind of film it is, nevertheless capping my initial score for it to A-.  Again, this is an outstanding action film; if you want to see the most entertaining film available and don't know much about superhero films, I'd even recommend it over the new Avengers movie.  Go see it!



"Mad Max theatrical poster"  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_Road#/media/File:Max_Mad_Fury_Road_Newest_Poster.jpg