Holy s#%t this film is amazing.
It’s been 30 years since a Mad Max film last hit theaters, yet George Miller has returned once more to direct the series’ fourth installment, Mad Max: Fury Road—and believe me it was worth the wait. Mad Max: Fury Road succeeds at being the best in the series by a long shot, and this is coming from someone who thoroughly enjoys Mad Max 2. Yet best in the series is icing on the cake, as Fury Road is one of the finest action films to release in years, perhaps even decades! It satisfies in every way: action, excitement, adventure, character, design, cinematography, pacing, editing and storytelling—most of the film had me giggling in a fit of pure delight. Not since Dredd has an action film of such high quality been released—Fury Road is worth the price of admission, with my only regret being how long it took to see it.
Don’t be fooled by its sequel pretense, anyone can comprehend Fury Road with or without seeing the previous Mad Max films—of course there are subtle bonuses for those who’ve seen the originals. The film thrives on minimalism—Max (Tom Hardy) rarely speaks throughout the film, and he doesn’t need too; his actions alone speak volumes. Delusions of his deceased daughter haunt Max throughout the film, giving just the right amount of detail surrounding his past. Fury Road also leaves an effective amount of mystery about Max, for both newcomers and fans of the originals. Are these hallucinations visions of what Max’s daughter would have appeared had she grown up, or a reboot to his backstory—either way works effectively, leaving it up for the viewer to decide. There are several small yet perfect moments for Max, such as when he mumbles to himself in a Tom Hank’s Castaway fashion (who wouldn’t after being alone for so long). These moments establish Max’s “Mad” persona all while working within the film’s quick, minimalistic pacing.
Despite its minimalistic setting, Fury Road contains an assortment of unique and bizarre characters—an expected staple of the Mad Max series. Hugh Keays-Byrne makes a 36 year return to the franchise, returning as another main antagonist Immortan Joe (seeing how his original character Toecutter died in Mad Max). Immortan Joe is as philosophically insane and narcissistically satanic as the Toecutter, yet 100 times more memorable in design--looking like a mix between a mutated polar bear, the Predator, and oddly enough, Cruella de Vil (they have the same mad-eyed look while driving, see for yourself):
Joe’s legion of minions (known as War Boys) are of typical George Miller design—deranged looking and gruesomely detailed. Every character has a deformity to them, whether it be boils, burns, lumps, scars, tumors, disfigurements, and/or missing limbs. Nobody is clean in Fury Road, looking as beaten and harden as leather on a worn-out shoe—which fits ideally within the apocalyptic setting. One major character Nux (Nicholas Hoult) plays a similar role to the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2; a deranged yet lovable War Boy turned useful ally after forming a bond with one of the female characters. Nux is arguably more complex than the Gyro Captain however, with far more character development and a stronger bond between himself and his romantic interest.
Charlize Theron plays her character Furiosa perfectly, standing out as the film’s highlight actor. One could argue Furiosa is ultimately the film’s protagonist, having the entire story revolve around her actions in addition to the largest amount of character development. I’d argue she’s a co-protagonist however, alongside the more subtly developed Max—both playing vital roles in the film, while affecting each other’s decisions. Furiosa’s backstory is never given in full, but rather through visuals, personality, and brief mentions: a missing arm, a branding burned into her neck, a comment about being kidnapped from her home, and her brutal determination to rise up the ranks and help Immortan Joe’s five brides escape from there prison. The pacing needn’t be slowed to tell Furiosa’s backstory, viewers can certainly piece the existing clues together (with any remaining elements of obscurity left to viewer’s imagination). Furiosa’s character design is quite notable, with a makeshift driving arm, short striking hair, and black grease smeared on her forehead as makeshift war-paint. Furiosa is the powerhouse female action-hero cinema’s been disappointingly slacking on—having the same awesome vibe Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley did in Aliens. The rest of Max‘s allies consists of an all-female cast, from the five ex-brides of Immortan Joe to Furiosa’s past clan—a group of kickass old ladies whose highlights include puncturing War Boys with shotgun slugs and riding motorcycles armed with explosive lances. With the main cast split between unique/developed males and unique/developed females, Fury Road may be the first R-rated action film I can truly call a strong feminist film.
By effectively using minimalism, Fury Road is allowed to focus fully and satisfyingly on what its trailers offer: non-stop, perfectly paced, beautifully choreographed, deliciously delightful, stupendously creative action sequences. The cinematography is both glorious and wonderfully convincing—the creative vehicles are undoubtedly real, with an unknown amount of CGI to polish and add any extra details. Not one to break from the series’ effective tradition, Fury Road’s car tricks, jumps, and crashes are physically performed by actual stunt drivers. The mixture of real cars with CGI polish is a breath of fresh air after so many films have switched to pure CGI (take notes Jurassic World, this is how to use CGI, like Jurassic Park did way before). The larger portions of CGI is mainly kept in the backdrops, surrounding the physical events in center. Everything looks amazing from the towering hurricane-like sandstorms to the endless starry night skies to the cars, cars, CARS, CARS—oh the creativity, oh the imagination put into them! There’s one strapped with tank treads, another with two cars mashed into one, one laced head-to-toe in spikes, and a massive vehicle carrying drummers and an electric guitarist playing a flamethrower-guitar! For such a minor role, the guitarist is an incredibly fun and memorable character—he just keeps playing throughout the film, making me wonder how long he’s actually been playing (hours, days!? By the film’s finale he probably had some major blisters). The film’s soundtrack is phenomenal and ideally matched for each scene—Giuseppe Verdi’s Dies irae, Libera me is played seamlessly alongside one of Joe’s officials blindly (quite literally blindly) firing duel machine guns at our protagonists, sprouting delusional nonsense of being judge and scales (while having the very appearance of Lady Justice). Speeches of grandeur have been given before in the Mad Max series, but never with such effectiveness—using the music’s maddening tone to rise such insane blabbering’s tenfold, feeling just right within the lunacy of the apocalyptic world.
What else can I say, Mad Max: Fury Road is incredible—one of the best action films to release in over a decade, maybe even longer. I wonder if Fury Road was what George Miller envisioned when making Mad Max during the 1970s (it’s unreal how vastly different in appearance Mad Max is to Fury Road). If so, then Miller’s dream has finally come to fruition—Fury Road is the Max Mad film, and one of the best films of 2015.
