Mad Max: Fury Road

Hell Hath No Fury

Mad Max: Fury Road (not to be mistaken with Furry Road; a completely different film) takes place in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland where water, petrol and bullets are the three most precious commodities. Everyone now is either a poor, flea-bitten and mutated hermit, or an absolutely crazy person hell-bent on death, destruction and driving really, really fast!

However there are still police, or 'Road Warriors', and one is Tom Hardy's Max Rockatansky.  Max has some demons in his past but we find him a bit busy being kidnapped by the warrior tribe of the tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe.  Whilst kidnapped, Max gets involved in a family squabble between Immortan Joe and Charlize Theron's (amazingly named) Imperator Furiosa, and that's where the fun begins.

Now admittedly, I have never seen the first three Mad Max films that shot Mel Gibson to international fame.  Not even the Tina Turner one.  I know that many people will now be thinking 'Oh My God!  How has he never...?!  They're CLASSICS!!!" etc. but they never really appealed to me.  I have heard they were incredibly ambitious and truly iconic, which I appreciate but still the appeal was just never there.

However now with $150 million behind the project, the director George Miller has finally been able to make the film he always wanted to make in 1979, and I was in such awe by the sheer production value of this film alone.  The entire film is gorgeous from start to finish.

I think I blinked twice during the entire 120 minutes.  Maybe three times.

Oh What A Lovely Day!

Miller was called a 'visionary director' by the teaser trailers, which I thought to be quite big-headed of him, but seeing what he can produce with a bigger budget behind him, I'm truly shocked that this is the same eye behind Babe: Pig In The City and both Happy Feet films.  Really.

I don't want to spoil any of the film's plot but when Immortan Joe assembles his posse to take revenge on Charlize Theron, his band of miscreants are completely bat-shit crazy, focussed on a glorious Viking-style death due to their overall radiation-poisoned existence.  Due to this, they pull off some of the most incredibly inventive stunts and just jaw-droppingly amazing action that I have seen in a film for a few years.

I mean, one of the big rigs is just a gigantic wall of speakers with drummers and a flame-throwing electric guitarist strapped to them.  Why?  Because.  That's why.

See?  Told you.  Because.

I really cannot stress how fantastic the film is from a creative viewpoint, especially how colourful and vibrant it is.  The African landscapes that have been used to replace the post-apocalyptic wastelands are filled with natural beauty and Miller has definitely used them to the best of their ability.  Special effects were only used when they had to be, to emphasise how real the Dead World feels, and it definitely works  Everything feels so raw and authentic, from The War Boys' modified war-cars to the boggy marshes past the desert wasteland, and every bone-crunching fight scene in between.

Notice how I'm not speaking about Max himself much in this review so far? That's because I don't really have to. Tom Hardy is a decent enough casting for the lead, but he is a lead in titular name only.  The film definitely belongs to Charlize Theron's Furiosa and her struggle against Immortan Joe.  Max simply stumbles upon this fight and decides to help, despite his quiet loner nature.  He is the calm at the centre of this mad world, having his actions speak louder than his words.  Which is helpful because when he did speak, I truly could not decipher his accent (in true Tom Hardy form!)

Oh, and, on a final note, some critics of the film have downplayed the movie as having an unwelcome 'feminist agenda' which is simply ridiculous.  The film advocates freedom from tyrannical rule for all, not just simply female freedom.

I truly recommend watching Max Mad: Fury Road, and if you can, on the biggest IMAX screen you can find.  Because you just can't beat Mad IMAX.  Ha!  See what I did there?!

Rating - 8/10

Until next time folks, thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed what you read and you'd like to be kept more up to date with my posts, I can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Dunn-Reviews and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeDunnReviews - if you want to help the site grow, give them a 'Like' or a 'Share'!