Mad
Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road is one over-the-top,
bombastic, adrenaline-filled chase scene. Love it or leave it.
Tom Hardy stars as Max – a former cop haunted by the events of
his life in this post-apocalyptic desert wasteland that looks
suspiciously like the Australian Outback (and not the one with the
amazing bloomin’ onion). It’s a world where everyone just
tries to survive, and Max’s number is up.
Our hero has been captured by marauders, and he is being harvested for
his blood to replenish the soldiers who fight for the local dictator,
Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne).
One of Immortan Joe’s most loyal and decorated, Imperator Furiosa
(Charlize Theron), has decided enough is enough, so, during a mission
to pick up more supplies, she decides to take off in a battle vehicle
carrying extremely valuable cargo beloved by the heinous military
strongman.
Of course, Max gets mixed up in this whole mess, and might find a
chance for redemption, just like the kind Furiosa is seeking. What
is she carrying?
Where is she going?
Why?
Director George Miller and the team sure know how to create a visually
stunning movie, but you always get the impression it could be about so
much more if Miller stopped the action for moment or two to let the
characters breath.
Mad Max: Fury Road is an action extravaganza
full of explosions, motorcycles, Frankenstein-style automobile mash
ups, fire, guns, and more stuff that makes a man thump his chest in
approval. They might as well call this Mad Max: Testosterone Road.
Yet, underneath it all is a story about redemption, the human spirit
and hope if it was allowed to rise above the explosions. Writers
Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris (along with Miller taking a
co-writer credit) give the characters moments of nobility to shed light
on their true motivations and make up, but the dialogue is left out.
The audience is able to get the point, but it would be nice to give the
actors some material to shine.
Theron and Hardy are very good at their craft, and find moments to add
some depth to Max and Furiosa that might not have been there with
lesser actors. A great actor can do something special with a look, and
both of them are in overdrive due to the lack of dialogue.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a visual spectacle with
a dash of depth tossed in.
Mad
Max: Fury Road is rated R for intense
sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images.
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