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This ultra-glamorous Charlize Theron does not appear in Mad Max Fury Road
A-Let’s cut to the chase here. Mad Max: Fury Road is the best action film in years, one that is destined to show up on all-time lists of such movies. Further, with this film on top of his original Mad Max trilogy, director George Miller cements his reputation as one of the best action directors of all time. Still further, Charlize Theron‘s Imperator Furiosa is second only to Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley from the Alien movies as the best action heroine of all time.
Given more than 30 years since the original Mad Max trilogy to fine tune his vision of a post-apocalyptic dystopian future, Miller has created a barren desert world in Fury Road in which water, not oil, is the key to power. Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Bourne) controls a vast amount of water at a rocky outcrop called the Citadel and has become a demigod to his followers, most notably a host of hopped up War Boys, including Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Furiosa kidnaps Joe’s prized “possession,” his breeder women, and absconds with them in a heavily armored tanker truck. She soon teams up with Max (Tom Hardy), who has himself escaped from Joe’s clutches, to try to stay one step ahead of Joe’s pursuing armada.
Fury Road has a deceptively simple plot, with the bulk of the movie consisting of several intricately designed and incredibly exciting set pieces. The 30-minute finale is a worthy successor to the climactic set piece in Miller’s earlier The Road Warrior. This time around, however, Miller has the benefit of a vastly increased budget and much improved technology. Miller uses that technology sparingly, however, preferring actual stunt work over CGI and traditional cinematography and deliberate editing that lets viewers understand exactly what’s happening. The production design is also amazingly creative, with vehicles seemingly cobbled together from spare parts that prove to be remarkably versatile in the nonstop combat in which they are engaged. Miller isn’t known for character development, but the main characters here are surprisingly well drawn in one or two scenes. Tom Hardy’s Mad Max has few lines but Miller establishes the character’s emotional baggage through brief flashback moments. Charlize Theron displays her emotions more openly and movingly at times; the movie is really about her quest for redemption. Fury Road winds up being neither a true remake of nor a sequel to any of the original Mad Max movies. Instead, it is an expansion of George Miller’s vision and the art of action film making to a truly exceptional level.
Continue reading on Mad Max Fury Road: Mini-Review
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