Mad Max: Fury Road
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Directed By: George Miller
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi
[rating: 4/5]
It’s been a long road (heh) for director George Miller. In 2010, twenty-five years after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome having spent those years making dramas and children movies (and a failed Justice League film), he was finally ready to return to the franchise he started and make Mad Max: Fury Road. Unfortunately an unexpected downpour turned his Australian post-apocalyptic wasteland into a beautiful flower-garden and the film was put on hold while they could secure another filming location. Forever the loyal Australian filmmaker, Miller took his almost entirely Australian cast and crew, give or take a couple of leads, to South Africa where he could finally film his long awaited return to action. Even after this, an unusual amount of time went by until the film was ready to be released now in 2015, not usually a good sign when coupled with production troubles. Will Mad Max: Fury Road be a triumphant reunion to both action and franchise for Miller or have those troubling signs lead him to a complete cinematic disaster?
Mad Max: Fury Road shows us a devastated post-apocalyptic wasteland where almost immediately our hero Max (Tom Hardy) is brutalised and captured by a bunch of hideous and insane gang members. Tortured by both his past and his captors, Max makes a hectic attempt to escape but is quickly detained as he realises there may just be no escape for him this time. While Max is resigning himself to a miserable and bleak existence, Furiosa (Charlize Theron) drives a ‘war tanker’ truck, destined for a nearby tribe, off-road in an attempt to flee the horrible tyranny of Warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his overbearing army of lean, pale, bald tribesman with a group of his prized breeding stock aka beautiful young women. When a sickly tribesman called Nux (Nicholas Hoult) is given one last chance to go out in glorious carnage he is given Max as a constant blood-source to tie to the front of his war-vehicle. It is here that Max has his chance to fight for his freedom and potentially redeem himself for the past that haunts him.
If any of the previous synopsis sounds completely and utterly insane, that’s because it is. The world that Miller has created here is so bright, loud, disgusting, intriguing and balls-to-the-wall crazy that numerous times throughout the film I simply found myself shaking my head saying, “This is crazy.” In any other hands it would have been an absolute disaster, but it’s clear that Miller knows exactly what he’s doing. The world of Mad Max is rich with story and completely realised. As absolutely bonkers as everything happening on screen is, you can’t actually fault it. It just works. All you can really do is just sit back and let the whole experience wash over you. Let yourself be swept away into a film that is basically just one giant car-chase with some of the best action set-pieces ever shown in cinema and a delightfully feminist skew. Max is the titular character here, that’s for sure, but this is Furiosa’s story and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Making Max simply be swept away with these women as they try and escape an oppressive male society makes everything all the more intriguing and in a way gives more weight to his personal arc than if he had any control whatsoever over what is happening. He is directionless at the start of the film, a man with no agency or drive to help anyone else. Giving him a worthy cause to buy into is exactly what this character needed and makes for truly compelling story that marries wonderfully to the outrageous action happening on screen.
As fun as it can be, the film is so loud and unapologetic that it doesn’t always give you much time to process what’s happening on screen. While this does work to enhance the effect of being swept away by the absurdity as our protagonist Max does, it does leave a little comprehension to be desired. It’s a basic story and there’s no way you will be lost in that aspect, but a large portion of the dialogue gets drowned out or is basically incomprehensible at times. Irritating? Yes, but not a complete mark against a film that is otherwise flawlessly put together.
Mad Max: Fury Road is one of those films that knows exactly what it is on every level. The universe it portrays is rich with story, each character on screen bursts with potential. You may even find yourself wondering about the backstory of a fat man in a business suit with nipple clamps and one giant cankle. Without a doubt one of the best action films in years, what it lacks in nuance it makes up for in high-octane fun. George Miller is back, baby!
