Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Dir: George Miller, 2015)

Tom Hardy takes the lead in this reboot of the popular post-apocalyptic Mad Max franchise. 

Although a modestly budgeted Australian production, the original Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) was an enormous box office success and shot star Mel Gibson to international fame. The movie was follow by the sequels Mad Max 2 (George Miller, 1981) re-titled Road Warrior in the US, and the less well received Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (George Miller & George Ogilivie, 1985). Mad Max: Fury Road is once again directed by the original series' co-writer and co-creator George Miller.

The movie opens in a futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by masked bad dude Immortan Joe (Hugh Keayes-Byrne). Captured by Joe's army and used as a 'bloodbag' by sickly soldier Nux (Brendan McCarthy), our hero Max soon finds himself adorning the hood of Nux's gasoline guzzling vehicle. Nux is in pursuit of Imperator Furiosa who is fleeing Joe with five of his wives in tow, one of whom is heavily pregnant. After some initial misunderstandings(!) Max and Furiosa soon team up to whoop Joe's ass. Which they do in spectacular fashion! 

Mad is right; this movie is a bit bonkers! I can’t honestly said I had a complete grasp of what was going on throughout its entirety. However, Fury Road has its compensations. The movie is nonstop adrenaline, with breathtaking action set pieces. The pace barely lets up for a second, and while occasionally confusing, it is never dull! 

It is also visually stunning; from special effect sets to costumes to John Seale's exquisite cinematography Mad Max: Fury Road has to be one of the best looking blockbusters out there. (Interestingly, the movie also exists as a Black and Chrome Edition, which has been drained of colour. While it is said to be Miller’s preferred version, the use of colour throughout the film is beautiful and I find it hard to imagine any improvement could be made by viewing the film in monochrome. I will watch it and get back to you.)

It is quite violent and occasionally grizzly. But the movie's overtly stylised and somewhat surreal atmosphere made the violent scenes much more palatable, even to a sensitive soul like me. To be honest, I found the excessive spitting way more upsetting than the carnage! 

Tom Hardy is great in the lead, and makes for a surprisingly sympathetic Max. As the kick-butt Imperator Furiosa, Charlize Theron is Hardy's equal in the action stakes and, refreshingly, of  equal importance to the narrative. This lends the movie a welcome feminist angle relatively rare in mainstream action films. 

Despite almost universal positive reception, Mad Max: Fury Road was only a moderate box office success, making the likelihood of a sequel uncertain. Whether or not Warners will feel the need to reboot it in another 35 years is anybody’s guess. However, I do think it would be a shame not to see Hardy return to the role. 

I enjoyed the original Mad Max trilogy, but it has been too long since I watched those movies to make a fair comparison to this one. While I found the narrative in Fury Road a little confusing I was ultimately won over by its bonkers charm! Action movies as artistic as this are rare beasts; Mad Max: Fury Road is therefore recommended viewing, even for those who are not especially fond of the genre.