It’s the fourth film of the long-running “Mad Max” franchise. Our J.P. gives us his take on “Fury Road,” starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD”
Warner Bros. Pictures
Released Date: Friday, May 15, 2015
MPAA Rating: R for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images
Run Time: 120 minutes
Studio Synopsis:
From director George Miller, originator of the post-apocalyptic genre and mastermind behind the legendary “Mad Max” franchise, comes “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a return to the world of the Road Warrior, Max Rockatansky. Haunted by his turbulent past, Mad Max believes the best way to survive is to wander alone. Nevertheless, he becomes swept up with a group fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by an elite Imperator, Furiosa. They are escaping a Citadel tyrannized by the Immortan Joe, from whom something irreplaceable has been taken. Enraged, the Warlord marshals all his gangs and pursues the rebels ruthlessly in the high-octane Road War that follows.
Tom Hardy (“The Dark Knight Rises”) stars in the title role in “Mad Max: Fury Road”—the fourth in the franchise’s history. Oscar winner Charlize Theron (“Monster,” “Prometheus”) stars as the Imperator, Furiosa. The film also stars Nicholas Hoult (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”) as Nux; Hugh Keays-Byrne (“Mad Max,” “Sleeping Beauty”) as Immortan Joe; and Nathan Jones (“Conan the Barbarian”) as Rictus Erectus. Collectively known as The Wives, Zoë Kravitz (“Divergent”) plays Toast, Riley Keough (“Magic Mike”) is Capable, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”) is Splendid, and supermodel Abbey Lee is The Dag, and Courtney Eaton is Fragile. Also featured in the movie are Josh Helman as Slit, Jennifer Hagan as Miss Giddy, and singer/songwriter/performer iOTA as Coma-Doof Warrior. The cast is rounded out by well-known Australian actors John Howard and Richard Carter, supermodel Megan Gale, Angus Sampson, Joy Smithers, Gillian Jones, Melissa Jaffer and Melita Jurisic.
Oscar-winning filmmaker George Miller (“Happy Feet”) is directing the film from a screenplay he wrote with Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris. Miller is also producing the film, along with longtime producing partner, Oscar nominee Doug Mitchell (“Babe”, “Happy Feet”), and P.J. Voeten. Iain Smith, Graham Burke and Bruce Berman serve as executive producers.
J.P.’s Take:
“Mad Max: Fury Road” finds director George Miller returning to the form that made him a cinematic icon. The “Mad Max” franchise not only launched the careers of both himself and former lead Mel Gibson, but it also changed the way we perceive post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies to this day.
Miller, who returns to helm the latest film, revisits the hellish desert landscape of the Australian outback; this time, opening the film with a strong female role in the driver’s seat. Deemed as a reboot, “Fury” is actually a sequel and feels like a natural progression of the sequels, upping the anti with Miller’s signature explosive punk metal visuals, mixed with his unique visceral style of narrative.
In this new vision, Charlize Theron is the heroine, while the titular character is brought along for the ride. Max is more so the sidekick, who grunts more than commands attention. This is Theron’s time to shine, as she dons the role of Furiosa, a woman of action and few words. The “Mad” Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is also of few words, who, on the other hand, is a no longer the road warrior once portrayed in previous iterations. Instead, he’s a broken man, haunted by the deaths of those he could not save. Here, his basic instincts are to outlast his pursuers in order to survive in this ravaged land.
As with Mad Max forerunners, Miller puts on display his dizzying assortment of bizarrely arranged stunts. Many of which are volatile in nature and no less violent. Yet, much of the stunts and action scenes are devised purely out of the insane situations the characters live in. When there is dialogue, most of the characters speak in a faux Shakesperian-esq tongue. Again, this is Miller’s signature style of presenting his world. For the most part, this film relies on its imagery to tell the story, which in my opinion boasts awe-inspiring cinematography. The first half consists of vehicle chases, consisting of junkyard cars fitted with serious firepower. However, the scene that struck me the most come from the dust storm from hell. It begins with Furiosa being sent out to recover gasoline by a tyrannical warlord named Immortan Joe (Huge Keays-Byrne). Furiosa has other plans to break free of Joe’s iron rule, as well as his army of wild warriors called War Boys.
Dumping her original mission, Furiosa takes her “war rig” on a detour to ditch her War Boys convoy, yet runs dead set into more trouble. On the horizon is a dust storm that looked as though fire rose up from the depths of hell. It spanned acres of land and stood sky high, where nothing could escape it. It is a nightmarish moment where there is nearly zero visibility, and the horrifying event therein involves people being obliterated by the grinding swirling sands. Despite a thin veneer of a plot, the tale isn’t a rehashing of a desperate world clamoring for material possessions or natural resources. What we find here is that human beings are the main commodity, specifically that of females of a fertile age. Further, in a silent way, this film thrives on womanhood, as female empowerment becomes the theme, even if it’s not overtly visible at first glance.
The borage of characters all fit within Miller’s desolate future; all carrying names of which I have no clue what they mean. Cast mates include Courtney Eaton as Cheedo The Fragile; Zoe Kravitz as Toast The Knowing; Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as The Splendid Angharad; and Nicolas Hoult, whom you may remember from “X-Men” film series (“First Class,” “Days of Future Past” and upcoming “Apocalypse”) as Nux. All gave poetic performances. Additionally, Keays-Byrne , who also played the villain Toecutter in the original “Mad Max,” joins the ranks of baddies with incomprehensible speak issues. The mask he wore, similar in vein to Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises,” didn’t do much to aid his villainy.
Theron gave a true heroine’s performance, as the silent yet mighty Furiosa. Theron didn’t need to say much, her able-bodied actions alone spoke volumes. Hardy as Rockatansky felt sturdy if useful enough, although he grunted most of the time. Even though he sounded as though he were reverting to caveman times, he managed to pull of some noble if heroic deeds.
This is a sequel I didn’t really expect much from, which proves looks could be deceiving. Honestly, I wasn’t bored viewing this well-choreographed freak-show on cellulose.