by William Hill
★★★½
Resurrected decades after most people have gotten beyond Thunderdome, George Miller's Mad Max returns with a new star and a fresh coat of dirt. It's a bizarre sight, these pale, hairless men driving hacked up cars from the fifties and beyond in pursuit of Tom Hardy and a prosthetic enhanced Charlize Theron through the desert when placed against the modern landscape of dull gray action films. After watching it, I'm still not sure if I've woken up from this glorious dream. an eighties film series has returned, not as a reboot, but a pseudo sequel, and one that isn't obsessed with constant references and reminders that you're watching a Mad Max film.
★★★½
Resurrected decades after most people have gotten beyond Thunderdome, George Miller's Mad Max returns with a new star and a fresh coat of dirt. It's a bizarre sight, these pale, hairless men driving hacked up cars from the fifties and beyond in pursuit of Tom Hardy and a prosthetic enhanced Charlize Theron through the desert when placed against the modern landscape of dull gray action films. After watching it, I'm still not sure if I've woken up from this glorious dream. an eighties film series has returned, not as a reboot, but a pseudo sequel, and one that isn't obsessed with constant references and reminders that you're watching a Mad Max film.
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| No, he doesn't talk like Bane. |
Tom Hardy plays Max Rockatansky, the Road Warrior, etc., replacing Mel Gibson in the role, hitting the road merely trying to scrape up enough gasoline to keep driving. It doesn't take long for Max to hit trouble, when the Wild Boys fire a rocket into the back of the V8 Interceptor, and takes him out of commission. This is when we get our first glimpse of the Citadel, a society that is stockpiling water, growing plants in a dead world, and most importantly, run by King Immortan Joe (the names get more ridiculous than this). Immortan Joe keeps a house full of wives for himself, until they are sprung by Imperator Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron. Max is brought along for the chase by War Boy Nux as a blood bag, where he is strapped to the front end of a car, and his blood is fed to the driver along a chain.
What follows for the rest of the film is essentially a two hour chase scene, and the film rarely lets up. The variety comes from the various desert settings, which include a tornado filled dust storm, and a muddy waste in the dead of a cold blue night. Immortan Joe, The Pig, and The Bullet Farmer all posses various vehicles with their own touches and threats, and I don't recall a single threat being repeated for more than one scene. What's impressive is that despite going almost nonstop for over two hours, it doesn't lose the tension, largely because the film still goes with a three act narrative, and something is actually happening, even at the height of the action.
Most impressive of all is the subtlety of both Hardy and Theron's performances. With very few words, it's easy to get a grasp of what they want and why, where they are coming from, and the weight that they are carrying throughout the film. Tom Hardy even has some facial inflections and annunciations that remind me of Mel Gibson's performances, and that's a feat in itself. It is almost as if the role never changed. Between roaring engines, gunfire, and explosions, the story is quietly told, and it's a great, if simple, tale. The unanswered questions leave a lot of room for the already announced sequels to approach, and given the level of skill Miller displayed here, I am ready for him to put me behind the wheel of another war machine.
Characters aside, the film pulls no punches visually. There isn't a single vehicle that isn't massive, derived from more than once machine, and sometimes even covered in metal shards. I will refrain from sharing the most absurd of these design choices, because, I swear to you, it must be seen without prior explanation. The Wild Boys, a pasty tattooed lot who are seeking Valhalla, The Pig, an overweight monster of a man with an ornate gold covering on his nose, and the King, Immortan Joe, are all exemplary costume designs. The desert setting gets a few redressings throughout the film, all of which are spectacular. A few key shots of the Citadel seem to pay homage to the classic 1927 silent film Metropolis, and that is not something I expected when I walked into the theater.
The unsung hero of the film is the brilliant score from Junkie XL, calling on a swashbuckling orchestral score with splashes of metal guitar and pounding war drums. Every vehicle has its own distinct sounds. The soundscape for this film is monstrous, and supports ever crash, explosion, gunshot and metallic scrape from beginning to end.
If could critique anything negatively is that when the film does slow into a quieter moment during the late second act, it's somewhat abrupt, given the constant drive of the narrative prior to and after these scenes. However, the story doesn't bore, and these scenes add another layer to the surreal setting, so it is quickly forgiven. I think that these scenes are just as good as the rest of the film, but I can see where some would laze in the lack of octane. Some also may find the more bizarre aspects of the films not to be to their tastes, but that is of no fault of the film. Strange as any one aspect of the film may be, it feels like a natural part of the untamed land.
George Miller's return to Mad Max is a glorious return to a higher grade of action films, rife with smart cinematography, practical effects, absurd comic book style, and characters worth caring about. It's everything that made the original films memorable with a few new tricks to spare. Paired with an excellent score, brilliant performances, and some interesting hooks for the sequels to come, Fury Road is a path worth travelling.
The unsung hero of the film is the brilliant score from Junkie XL, calling on a swashbuckling orchestral score with splashes of metal guitar and pounding war drums. Every vehicle has its own distinct sounds. The soundscape for this film is monstrous, and supports ever crash, explosion, gunshot and metallic scrape from beginning to end.
If could critique anything negatively is that when the film does slow into a quieter moment during the late second act, it's somewhat abrupt, given the constant drive of the narrative prior to and after these scenes. However, the story doesn't bore, and these scenes add another layer to the surreal setting, so it is quickly forgiven. I think that these scenes are just as good as the rest of the film, but I can see where some would laze in the lack of octane. Some also may find the more bizarre aspects of the films not to be to their tastes, but that is of no fault of the film. Strange as any one aspect of the film may be, it feels like a natural part of the untamed land.
George Miller's return to Mad Max is a glorious return to a higher grade of action films, rife with smart cinematography, practical effects, absurd comic book style, and characters worth caring about. It's everything that made the original films memorable with a few new tricks to spare. Paired with an excellent score, brilliant performances, and some interesting hooks for the sequels to come, Fury Road is a path worth travelling.
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