Mad Max: Fury Road – Endless Action with Emotional Story
Mad Max: Fury Road is a type of film that comes once in a lifetime. It is so perfectly crafted, and it is a privilege to view. Action films can come in all shapes and sizes, and they are often attributed with the stereotype that they are below other genres of film. The fact that the best film of 2015 (so far) is a non-stop action thriller with little dialogue and constant momentum is almost unthinkable.
Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth film in the Mad Max franchise by director and creator George Miller. The world has been turned into a wasteland plagued by groups of marauders and thieves after a lack of resources cause people to break into a thermonuclear war. We meet Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) who has been driven to madness after a biker gang kills his wife and son, and has lost others he attempted to protect in the years following. He is captured by a group of War Boys who take him to The Citadel, a stronghold in the vicinity of a large aquifer. A warlord named Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) rules over The Citadel, and preys on the desperation of an impoverished class by controlling the flow of water. Joe sends his head Imperator, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), to take their largest vehicle known as The War Rig to get supplies from Gas Town and The Bullet Farm, but she has other plans and escapes on The Fury Road with cargo that is very precious to Immortan Joe. The War Boys and Joe chase after The War Rig in a high-speed, break-neck chase that Max gets dragged into after he becomes the blood bag of a War Boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Max has decided to be a loner, because rescuing people just means losing people in this wasteland, but he might have to make an exception.
What really shines in this film is the brilliance of Miller’s world. It is absolute insanity, but you embrace it because it seems right. Everything in this film is approached in a meticulous way that it inspires you to dive in and learn everything about this world. Each car has a backstory and their components have been created with crazy attention to detail, each character is deeply motivated by their past lives, and all of these elements are tackled without any exposition. Fury Road and the other Mad Max films are so enjoyable because they exist in such a wonderful world that is not only plausible, but also completely bonkers. George Miller must be some kind of psychopath to come up with this stuff, and I praise him for it.
Fury Road can also be viewed as a technical marvel. Not only is every shot cared for with scrutiny, but almost all of the stunts and visuals you see are real. Currently the large percentage of films in the industry use a large variety of special effects, but mainly use computer generated imagery, or CGI. Blowing up a car using CGI is not nearly as satisfying as knowing that someone actually blew up a gigantic automobile in the middle of a vast desert. Watching someone dangle from a car going 120 mph with their head only a few inches from scraping across the ground is more of a visual treat when you realize that a stunt double actually did that. 90% of this film is made using real, practical effects and the stunt drivers, and fight choreographers, and in a world dominated by CGI that in itself is a feat that should be prized.
The characters in this film are so perfectly created, and we understand their motivations and their personalities with barely any dialogue to guide us. This can both be credited to brilliant acting, and an amazing script. The creators of this film had to rely on the ability of these actors to convey emotion through their actions not their words, whether it is Max’s facial tics, Immortan Joe’s cold stare, or Furiosa’s determined gaze and gritted teeth, we realize exactly the personalities of these characters, and when characters grow and change it is so prevalent and meaningful.
Put on your goggles, signal Gas Town, fill the Interceptor up with guzzoline, pray to the mighty V8, and may you ride to the gates of Valhalla shiny and chrome. You’re in for a ride, and a lovely day, “What a lovely day!”
Whether it is viewed as a brilliant achievement of action filmmaking, a cautionary environmental tale of protecting resources, or a well-crafted film praising female empowerment this is the best film of 2015 so far. Watch it for the story, watch it for the action, and watch it because it is a masterpiece in every sense of the word.
…I just hope you don’t go mad.
Mad Max: Fury Road is rated R for scenes of violence and some disturbing images.
It is currently available for rent on Google Play, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, and other streaming services for $3.99 - $4.99. It is also available for purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.