It’s been 5 years since George Miller graced us with the return of the road warrior on the big screen, in perhaps the best installment of his post apocalyptic series: Mad Max Fury Road.
The story follows a haunted and unhinged Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) traveling across the endless wasteland of the old world before being pulled into conflict with a cult lead by the war lord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). He is eventually forced to ally himself with another road warrior named Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and assist her in helping five enslaved wives of Immortan Joe escape from him and his heavily armed vehicular legion. It is an intense battle for survival that both Max and Furiosa take on, uncertain of where this path will lead them both.
The Mad Max franchise has certainly made a firm stance as one of the most influential franchises in the post apocalyptic genre. After the third Mad Max film in 1985 people had to wait 30 years for the fourth installment to come out. But the wait was truly worth it, for not only did it please die-hard Mad Max fans, it basically ruled the fucking world.
Despite underperforming at the box office, the film has absolute praise from critics and was adored by many audiences for the action, direction, acting, practical effects, cinematography, score, visuals… pretty much everything. It’s been regarded as one of the best sequels of all time and one of the best movies of all time. And the critics are absolutely right. Despite years of development hell the movie turned out to be fucking amazing, bringing so much to the table.
When the movie was officially announced and showcased many people were surprised to find that Mel Gibson would not return to the titular role, and instead the role was to be passed on to now beloved actor Tom Hardy. Helming this role is no easy task, but Hardy proved to be incredible. He may not have much dialogue in the film but his performance is still stellar, depicting a deranged, almost feral version of Max who is constantly put into adrenaline-fueled situations.
He is also haunted by his past, which consistently affects his mind and impacts the actions he commits. He is broken, but somewhere underneath it all there is still some shred of humanity within him. He is a real standout alongside the emotional drive and heart of this film: Furiosa.
Charlize Theron fucking rocks in this movie. She brings the power both in emotion and action. She is experienced like Max, but was brought up in a rather different and harsher upbringing, and unlike Max retains hope that there is some form of salvation waiting for her and the women she’s saving. The journey she goes through has a lot of depth and heart in it thanks to an excellent performance by Theron and an excellent screenplay by Miller.
The wives of Immortan Joe are also excellent characters for the fact that, despite being vulnerable, they are by no means damsels in distress. They offer a lot to the story and you do care for all of them and what they endure.
But one of the biggest surprises of the film, and one I consider to be another standout, is the character Nux played by Nicholas Hoult. He’s an actor I had followed for some time even before this movie but holy shit he was almost unrecognizable here.
He plays one of the many deranged cultists of Immortan Joe, but it is through him that we see that while many individuals in this wasteland have lost their minds and have became murderous savages, there is still humanity within them that shows a bit of what they once were. He’s a really fascinating character that delivers such great scenes and perhaps some of the greatest quotes in the movie.
As for Immorten Joe and his legion, they are truly a force to be reckoned with, having some of the most vicious armaments at their disposal and the most crazed individuals within their service. Every individual in the legion has their own unique and memorable design that adds to the apocalyptic setting. They fit in the continuity of the series while also standing out on their own from the looks of villains in past entries.
Also the many vehicles they have are fucking awesome, with their own unique designs and gadgets. And the best part is they are all practical and real, making them even more impressive. Also, who could forget probably the most iconic member of the group: the flame guitar guy. There is such great world building thanks to the characters and most importantly the visuals.
The action is brutal and unforgiving, much like the wasteland they roam and the beastly vehicles they drive. The cinematography by John Seale under the direction of George Miller is fucking fantastic, establishing a beautiful but hostile landscape. The editing is also very good as it is used effectively to engage the viewers with what is happening to the characters in their scenes. Whether it be heart pumping anxiety or adrenaline fueled road rampaging it was all executed perfectly thanks to a beautiful combination of elements. The score roars with intensity in this film but also tones done for softer moments. I still consider it it one of Junkie XL’s best work.
The practical effects are of course one of the biggest highlights of the film. CGI is used but it is used sparingly through the film and relies mainly on practical techniques, which I feel really works because again it actively engages audiences and makes them feel the vicious realism of this insane world. Every crash and every explosion has a strong impact and never takes away anything from what’s happening on screen.
The story is strong and has a number of themes that play into it, such as survival, solidarity, vengeance, redemption and yes even feminism in some ways. Each theme is executed perfectly and works together through the story without making it fall short. And when it comes to flaws with this movie I honestly don’t see any. To me this is masterful on every level and I applaud the amazing amount of effort George Miller put into this film. Making this film was no easy task and there could have been so many ways he could have made some easy short cuts that would have damaged the final product, but he didn’t do any of that. He fully went through with his vision and took all the time he wanted to bring forward his greatest installment to the iconic series he started in the 80s.
I honestly don’t know how he is going to top this, but one thing is for sure, he will more than likely apply the same amount of dedication to his next project as he did with this. And no matter how long it takes I’ll be eagerly waiting for it. I’m going to give Mad Max: Fury Road an A+.
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