Review of 'Mad Max: Fury Road'

In a post-apocalyptic Australia, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is a former cop that is captured by a group of scavengers called the “War Boys” and taken back to the “Citadel” which is a mesa containing a series of caves occupied by the small society. It is ruled by the warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) who keeps his subjects happy with ritual and providing small amounts of water taken from his ample supply. The cult believes that Joe can deliver them to Valhalla. Joe sends his commander Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to “Gas Town” to replenish their fuel but when the vehicles divert from their destination Joe learns that Furiosa has taken the women from his harem with him. Joe is furious and sends out in pursuit his War Boys with Max tied to the front of one of the vehicles. When this convey is attacked by another tribe the vehicle crashes and Max awakes to find the tanker nearby with the five women of the harem cleaning themselves and removing their chastity belts who intend to go to the “Green Place” where they hope to find happiness. Max reluctantly agrees to help the woman and they set off in the tanker though an unforgiving land…

Wow. From the first second of this movie to the final credits the action never stops. It is the stunts and driving sequences, of course, that are the main focus of the story. These scenes are absolutely unbelievable and even more appreciated when you understand much of it was filmed live with very little computer effects being used. Seeing large number of war vehicles with people on these tall polls sticking up that they swing on to board other vehicles is absolutely amazing - Hard to believe no one was seriously injured in the making of this movie. The quirky and insane elements are also very much in evidence here with one vehicle “driven” by a madman with his playing of a guitar. To be fair, no one here is really sane as admitted by Max himself “My name is Max. My world is fire and blood. Once, I was a cop. A road warrior searching for a righteous cause. As the world fell, each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy… me… or everyone else.”

I have to admit, I had heard the glowing reviews of this movie when it was released but due to the reluctance of my wife to see the movie (it is terribly violent in places) I eventually only saw this on a tiny screen on the back of the seat in front of me while on a plane to Malaysia. Not really the ideal way to watch a movie with these amazing visuals. It makes me want to see it, somehow, on the big screen…

This is a sequel from the original Mad Max movies and continues the bleakness of the originals. The world is an unforgiving and brutal place. Thankfully some of the vivid brutality of the original movies is missing here but the personal violence certainly remains. The characters are all generally nasty people you would not want to spend a lot of time with with the only redeeming features being the desire of some to make things better. The story is interesting and certainly more elaborate than the older films. Max is still largely an unknown and unreadable character that seems to always, reluctantly, find himself helping people though most of the time to save his own skin.

Looking for an incredible action flick and not so bothered by personal violence? This is the movie for you. Fury Road will leave you breathless and amazed.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2015-11-28

Directed by: Miller George

Studio: Kennedy Miller Productions

Year: 2015

Length: 120 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/