Balls to the wall and brutal.
So a little disclaimer, first and foremost I'm going to try and not spoil anything that isn't already known about the film, there isn't too much of a plot here but enough to segregate it from some of the more soulless action movies.
Secondly I have never seen any of the previous Mel Gibson movies so if I give an opinion or speculate something about the titular character or universe then I'm probably going to be wrong, don't take it to heart.
In a post apocalyptic Australian wasteland (nuclear weapons are bad) we're quickly introduced to Max Rockatansky (Hardy), a disheveled and shifty survivor living day to day on the run from the personal army of a cult leader known as Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne.) Though Max is healthy it appears not everybody has been so lucky and 'the dead' live half lives and capture healthy people to use as personal blood bags, an eerie opening chase scene put mildly in fast forward sets the pace for the return of the road warrior, this isn't your grandaddy's action movie.
Max inadvertently finds himself in the middle of Imperator Furiosa's (Theron, and yes they all have silly names) plot to smuggle five of Immortan Joe's breeder wives out to somewhere known as the 'Green Place.' It's assumed by a scene where Joe opens up a waterfall to the parched masses that the land is sustainable but they keep the water from the people most of the time as to not make them greedy. Yeah he's a dick. There's not too much left to write about the plot other than Joe and his war parties travel across the Aussie wasteland to bring back the wives and to kill Furiosa.
Fury Road's main selling point is it's spectacle, an early scene in which Max is strapped to the front of a modded car to be used as a blood bag by the fanatic Nux (Hoult) sets the tone. Into the heart of a desert storm it's hard to make things out until bolts of lightning hits and bodies rain from the sky. Joe's followers could best be described as zealot's, eagerly sacrificing their own lives after screaming at their associates to 'witness' them, they then proceed to spray their faces with a chrome aerosol and leap in front of/onto/turn themselves into fireballs to kill our protagonists. It's savage and you can't help but love the barbarity of it. Plus seeing one guy playing a flame-throwing guitar on a giant tank made from amplifiers and drums is so dumb it's ingenious. It revels in it's own madness.
I mentioned earlier I know little of the Mad Max lore but I did find out that Mel Gibson had only around fifteen lines in the first movie, so it only fits that Hardy's portrayal is also laggard when it comes to his dialogue. Unfortunately and not to take anything away from Hardy, but it does tend to put Max on the back seat (pun intended) in his own movie. The characters that really shine in this pumped up testosterone laden thrill ride are the ladies.
Don't let anybody tell you a woman couldn't lead an action movie. Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor are already proof enough but Furiosa sets the bar in not to be f-ed with. From her superior driving skills to going toe to toe with Max in a fist fight (did we mention she only has one arm?) she delivers far more than she takes and ended a certain character in a particularly bloody and bad ass way. It takes a lot for a film to leave your jaw hanging (people who've already seen will know what I mean) but Mad Max proves that you can teach old dogs new tricks.
I'll avoid the white knuckle power hour cliché but Fury Road is a definite cinema viewing and feels like a humongous punch to the gut that you enjoy. Confused? The film will have you feeling the same way.
No comments:
Post a Comment