Mad Max: Fury Road | Movie Review

‘The images that roar over you from the screen during the two hour running time are as awe-inspiring as they are relentless.’

In 1979, Australian director George Miller unleashed leather-clad highway cop Max Rockatansky on the world in the low budget cult hit “Mad Max”. The character – portrayed by a fresh faced and unsullied Mel Gibson – and his tale of highway vengeance went on to gross $100 million worldwide, spawned two successful sequels, and ushered in an era that peppered the movie landscape with countless pale imitations.

Now, thirty-six years later, Miller is back with the fourth installment in his dusty leather, high-octane series with “Mad Max: Fury Road”. It’s been a long time, George. Was it worth waiting around for? Let’s see what you’ve got.

The movie opens on our lone – and very shaggy looking – hero (Tom Hardy), staring out over the dry, barren landscape made famous by its predecessors. Of course, within moments, a chase ensues. Sadly, it ends abruptly and Max is captured and dragged off to The Citadel, a towering oasis ruled over by the loathsome Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), a horribly disfigured despot who is as diseased in mind as he is in body. Upon Max’s arrival, a plot is underway to smuggle Immortan Joe’s beloved harem out of The Citadel to escape his **ahem** quite unsavory plans for them. The scheme is the brainchild of Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) – gotta say George, I’m lovin’ the names so far – a commander of this self-proclaimed god who has had enough of his slimy, tyrannical ways.

Needless to say, in the frantic minutes following the discovery of the plot, our hero finds himself unwittingly thrown into the midst of the peril, and so begins one of the longest and most exhilarating chase scenes ever committed to celluloid – or to hard disk, or whatever the hell they’re using these days.

What’s the story from here on out? Well, let’s call where we’re at now Point A. About ninety minutes down the road and to the left is the end, Point B. The gorgeous, adrenaline/gasoline pumping carnage and mayhem that takes place in between as Max, Furiosa, and the harem flee for their lives in the awesome “ Battle Truck” – with Immortan Joe and what seems like a hundred vehicles in hot pursuit – is the story. And George, you’re a master storyteller..

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Bouncing around back and forth between them during all of this is a nearly unrecognizable Nicholas Hoult as Nux, one of Immortan Joe’s loyalist followers who lives only to please his lord and master. You’re a good looking young man, Nick. You gotta stop covering yourself up in every other movie you take on. It doesn’t last forever.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” is a theater experience if ever there was one. The images that roar over you from the screen during the two hour running time are as awe-inspiring as they are relentless. Action directors across the globe must be scratching their heads right now and wondering, ‘How the hell am I supposed to top that?’

This is the chase movie in its purest form. The planning and choreography that went into this must have been staggering. It’s vehicular ballet. The cars don’t just swerve and veer, they dance across a post-apocalyptic landscape that is as beautiful as it is bleak. They are wondrous extensions of their human pilots. George, you’ve become the Bob Fosse of gearheads around the world.

It was the interaction between man and machine that I found most fascinating here. Sure, they pull over every now and again to change a tire or replace a piston, but in the midst of battle they have to deal with these issues while the pedal is still hard to the metal. Watching Furiosa and Max crawling over, around, and under the Battle Truck to make necessary repairs – all whilst being pummeled, shot at, and scorched by Immortan Joe and Top Gear Gone Wild – is enthralling. Seeing ‘The Pole Cats’ pendulate back and forth atop their high perches amidst flying bodies, fireballs, and the odd airborne Toyota, is giddying. And how can you not love the fact that the villain is too good for just some plain old CD or tape player and has to bring along his own live, mobile, flame-throwing guitarist supreme to provide ear-bursting heavy metal to inspire the troops. Add to all of this gigantic spinning saw-blades, porcupine cars, and every automotive nightmare Jay Leno has ever had, and what you finally get is….pure bliss. God bless that manic noodle of yours, George.

The human cast is in fine form here as well. Tom Hardy is a worthy (sorry Mel, but if it helps, I still missed ya) successor to the seat-belted throne. His stoicism in the face of grizzly death is admirable, but when the beast is unleashed it’s ‘Hells Yeah!’ time. Charlize Theron damn near steals the show as the metal-armed savior of Immortan Joe’s harem. This ain’t no damsel-in-distress. If there’s anyone in this movie capable of putting Max on his ass, it’s her. Nicholas Hoult gives a manic performance that has you love him even when he’s at his worst, and never topples over into farce. And a special shout out has to go to Hugh Keays-Byrne, the only returning cast member and the original thorn in Max’s butt; thirty six years on and still going strong. Toecutter was scary, but Immortan Joe is a force of nature. Like the amazing sandstorm that occurs early on in the film, when he’s coming at you, the best you can do is just get the hell out of the way.

If there is anything anyone is going to complain about, it will be backstory. We don’t learn much about many of the characters here. Immortan Joe’s history is non-existent. Might have been nice to know what turned him into Darth Vader’s long lost, bleached-out, whack-job brother. The same goes for most everyone except Furiosa, who we learn didn’t have the greatest of childhoods. Then again, who could in this world? Even Max himself is an enigma unless you have seen the other movies. For myself, these are very minor quibbles, but I imagine there are going to be many who have not seen the previous films (shame on you) who will be wondering who exactly this guy is and what the hell is going on with those split second flashbacks he keeps having. Oh, well. Look the first three up on Netflix when you get home. You’ll be better for it.

In the end, “Mad Max: Fury Road” is everything I was hoping for and more. My heart was racing long after the lights came on, and I’m sure I had a stupid grin plastered on my face as I exited the theater. Damn, it’s probably still there. I will definitely be revisiting this in the coming days, if only to peer more closely for the mechanical and human oddities I might have missed the first time round. I can’t wait.

And to the genius that made all of this possible.

That’ll do, George, that’ll do.

Want to hear more about Mad Max: Fury Road? Listen to our special bonus episode where we discuss every crazy aspect of the film in detail!

Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
Directed by George Miller

 

David McGrath
Contributing Reviewer
The Hollywood Outsider