Mad Max: Fury Road (A or 4/4 stars)
When George Miller's Mad Max (1979) came overseas from Australia to the U.S. in 1980, who knew that filmmakers Down Under were creating such trailblazing, kickass movies? MM was a hit (and introduced us to Mel Gibson), so The Road Warrior burst onto the screen in 1981, followed by 1985's Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (with iconic Tina Turner). Those films raised the bar on daring stunt work & vehicular mayhem. Now, 30(!) yrs. later, 70 yr. old George Miller re-boots/re-energizes his old trilogy with 'Mad Max: Fury Road' and, simply put, the movie’s a propulsive, relentless adrenaline rush from its beautifully bizarre beginning to its inspiringly cathartic end. The setting - as usual - is post-apocalyptic Australia(?) in a toxic age where the 2 most important commodities are water (to live) & gasoline (to drive) ... and only the tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) can dole those out.
The film begins by introducing haunted ex-cop Mad Max Rockatansky (now Tom Hardy), our loner protagonist who has suffered great loss in his life but keeps on plugging away. Max's troubles continue after he's captured by Immortan Joe's white-painted warriors who hook him up as a human blood bag for an ailing youth named Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Immortan Joe is a savage leader, as evidenced by 2 groups of women who he keeps enslaved. One group includes his prized 5(!) trophy wives (Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keogh, Courtney Eaton, Abbey Lee) ... who he keeps for the dual purpose of sex & breeding {eww}. And the 2nd group includes 5 large Aboriginal women whose sole purpose for existence is to produce breast milk by way of a pumping machine {ewww}.
Abhorred by all of this and looking for a way out of the Citadel herself, one-armed warrior woman, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), flees east across the desert in her massive battle-ready oil rig with his 5 sex-slaved wives in tow; hoping they can all start over with a life of sustenance, protection, & freedom in the "Green" lands. Outraged, Immortal Joe takes off in hot pursuit, flanked by his many minions (the Gas Town thugs, the Bullet Farmer gang, the Buzzard tribe, & the Rock Riders). Also in pursuit is young Nux, who ties Max (his human blood bag) to his vehicle & sets-out of the Citadel. Max eventually frees himself from Nux's clutches, joins Furiosa's cause, & forges a tempestuous I'll-do-for-you-if-you'll-do-for-me relationship with her. Reaching Furiosa's homeland reveals that the chase isn't over yet. And this ragtag band of heroes must get right back on the road & into the proverbial lion's den. Craziness ensues.
Director George Miller keeps Max's personality intact from the 1980s films, continuing to present him as a taciturn fighter whose personal pain dictates that he keep others at a distance yet whose humanity is shown in compassionate & empathetic behaviors. Tom Hardy is pretty great, here. His is a stoic, intensity-brewing-beneath-the-surface performance, but he lets enough glimmers of charisma poke through at just the right times. Immortan Joe is a hideous, repulsive man who treats every woman in his life in horrific fashion, and Hugh Keays-Byrne is appropriately vile & loathsome. The 5 actresses who play Joe's wives may look like waif-like supermodels, but there is surprising strength & character in each of their performances. Nicholas Hoult is excellent as the manic, immature Nux who gains complexity & poignancy as the film barrels along. And with her shaved head, greased face, mechanical arm, & steely eyes, most impressive is Charlize Theron as the unflappable, fearless Furiosa. She & Tom Hardy make for a dynamic vengeance-seeking duo. She's strong, yet vulnerable (a breakdown scene amid swirling sand is a stunner). She's ferocious, yet tender. And best of all, a resourceful protector. Her action heroine ranks right up there with the Sigourney Weavers & the Linda Hamiltons of cinema history.
This film's kinetic thrust is simply breathtaking. What ensues for nearly 2 hours is an action/adventure blast of energy that rarely lets up -- that may sound tiresome, but it is anything but. The plot is basically one big chase across the desert. But what happens along the way is deeply strange, darkly humorous, scary, awesome, & surprising; I'm reminded of a stunning sequence that takes place within a cyclonic sandstorm & piercing lightning. Now there ARE quieter respites for character-building, flashbacks, & plot incident (I'm reminded of a moment amid barren trees with a blue moonlight backdrop that provides a more palpable sense of melancholy than any dialogue could convey) ... but this is virtually a non-stop actioner with incredible sights that kept my mouth agape in awe for most of the proceedings.
The ingenuity of this film is beyond compare. The strange post-apocalyptic milieu, societal incidentals, jacked-up vehicles, exhilarating chases, explosions, nightmarish flashbacks, disturbing-yet-unique imagery, weird costumes/make-up, incredible derring-do stunt work, the seamless special effects ... it all culminates to create, for me, one of the best action films I've ever seen … full stop. Even when I think of the two blockbusters that came out this year alone - Fast & Furious 7 and The Avengers: Age of Ultron - they can't hold a CANDLE to what Miller achieves here in 'Fury Road'. This is a film in which men initially dominate the story, but George Miller shifts the focus onto his female characters and turns this masterpiece into a badass feminist actioner in which (with the help of awesome Mad Max) the women fight for survival, fight for the future, & look to restore humanity.
The film begins by introducing haunted ex-cop Mad Max Rockatansky (now Tom Hardy), our loner protagonist who has suffered great loss in his life but keeps on plugging away. Max's troubles continue after he's captured by Immortan Joe's white-painted warriors who hook him up as a human blood bag for an ailing youth named Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Immortan Joe is a savage leader, as evidenced by 2 groups of women who he keeps enslaved. One group includes his prized 5(!) trophy wives (Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keogh, Courtney Eaton, Abbey Lee) ... who he keeps for the dual purpose of sex & breeding {eww}. And the 2nd group includes 5 large Aboriginal women whose sole purpose for existence is to produce breast milk by way of a pumping machine {ewww}.
Abhorred by all of this and looking for a way out of the Citadel herself, one-armed warrior woman, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), flees east across the desert in her massive battle-ready oil rig with his 5 sex-slaved wives in tow; hoping they can all start over with a life of sustenance, protection, & freedom in the "Green" lands. Outraged, Immortal Joe takes off in hot pursuit, flanked by his many minions (the Gas Town thugs, the Bullet Farmer gang, the Buzzard tribe, & the Rock Riders). Also in pursuit is young Nux, who ties Max (his human blood bag) to his vehicle & sets-out of the Citadel. Max eventually frees himself from Nux's clutches, joins Furiosa's cause, & forges a tempestuous I'll-do-for-you-if-you'll-do-for-me relationship with her. Reaching Furiosa's homeland reveals that the chase isn't over yet. And this ragtag band of heroes must get right back on the road & into the proverbial lion's den. Craziness ensues.
Director George Miller keeps Max's personality intact from the 1980s films, continuing to present him as a taciturn fighter whose personal pain dictates that he keep others at a distance yet whose humanity is shown in compassionate & empathetic behaviors. Tom Hardy is pretty great, here. His is a stoic, intensity-brewing-beneath-the-surface performance, but he lets enough glimmers of charisma poke through at just the right times. Immortan Joe is a hideous, repulsive man who treats every woman in his life in horrific fashion, and Hugh Keays-Byrne is appropriately vile & loathsome. The 5 actresses who play Joe's wives may look like waif-like supermodels, but there is surprising strength & character in each of their performances. Nicholas Hoult is excellent as the manic, immature Nux who gains complexity & poignancy as the film barrels along. And with her shaved head, greased face, mechanical arm, & steely eyes, most impressive is Charlize Theron as the unflappable, fearless Furiosa. She & Tom Hardy make for a dynamic vengeance-seeking duo. She's strong, yet vulnerable (a breakdown scene amid swirling sand is a stunner). She's ferocious, yet tender. And best of all, a resourceful protector. Her action heroine ranks right up there with the Sigourney Weavers & the Linda Hamiltons of cinema history.
This film's kinetic thrust is simply breathtaking. What ensues for nearly 2 hours is an action/adventure blast of energy that rarely lets up -- that may sound tiresome, but it is anything but. The plot is basically one big chase across the desert. But what happens along the way is deeply strange, darkly humorous, scary, awesome, & surprising; I'm reminded of a stunning sequence that takes place within a cyclonic sandstorm & piercing lightning. Now there ARE quieter respites for character-building, flashbacks, & plot incident (I'm reminded of a moment amid barren trees with a blue moonlight backdrop that provides a more palpable sense of melancholy than any dialogue could convey) ... but this is virtually a non-stop actioner with incredible sights that kept my mouth agape in awe for most of the proceedings.
The ingenuity of this film is beyond compare. The strange post-apocalyptic milieu, societal incidentals, jacked-up vehicles, exhilarating chases, explosions, nightmarish flashbacks, disturbing-yet-unique imagery, weird costumes/make-up, incredible derring-do stunt work, the seamless special effects ... it all culminates to create, for me, one of the best action films I've ever seen … full stop. Even when I think of the two blockbusters that came out this year alone - Fast & Furious 7 and The Avengers: Age of Ultron - they can't hold a CANDLE to what Miller achieves here in 'Fury Road'. This is a film in which men initially dominate the story, but George Miller shifts the focus onto his female characters and turns this masterpiece into a badass feminist actioner in which (with the help of awesome Mad Max) the women fight for survival, fight for the future, & look to restore humanity.