(Australia/USA, 120 min.)
Dir. George Miller; Writ. George Miller,
Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron,
Nicholas Hoult, Hugo Keays-Byrne
Vroom! Vroom! Mad Max: Fury Road puts the pedal to the metal and kicks summer
movie season into high gear. School’s not even out for the summer, so a film
this crazy might have played even better six weeks from now in the brutal summer heat, but Fury Road is the loudest, wildest, most
action-packed bonanza at the multiplex right now. It’s exhilarating escapism.
Director George Miller virtually seems out to lunch for revisiting his franchise of the 1980s with this nearly dialogue-free tent-pole production that features mostly practical effects and a strong feminist bent to boot. However, Mad Max delivers more just a tale of sound and fury even if it looks like the same nonsensical video-game-passing-as-a-movie that panders to the masses these days. Miller’s on to something. Fury Road, for all its unrelenting action and mayhem, feels like the result of a filmmaker listening to the demands of audiences and tinkering with mainstream formula to deliver a counterpoint to studio garbage.
Tom Hardy’s Max, for one, isn’t quite the
powerhouse action star of the film. That title belongs to Charlize Theron for
her sturdy turn as Furiosa, the resolute road warrior who smuggles five women
out of a hellhole of captivity. Hardy and Theron make a strong team as Max, a
captive to the same clan of Stone Age skinheads whom Furiosa double-crosses and
escapes, save each other on the long road home. There’s far more depth and fury
to Theron’s character, though, as Furiosa’s grit and physical scars mark her as
a woman who endured the same hell as the five girls in her care. Fury Road is mostly laudable as a smart reply
to the lack of strong roles for women in Hollywood, as it shows that a
mainstream action film, even one that, superficially, seems like a loud opus
for boys and their toys, can let a woman kick more butt than her male co-star
does. The film smartly makes Max and Furiosa a team, rather than rivals, but
when a troupe of wise old female warriors joins them, there’s no denying that
the film presents one of the most significant steps for representation in
mainstream action films since Alien.
With the one-two punch of Katniss Everdeen and Furiosa, the times are changing
and Fury Road is ahead of the pack.
It’s a long road, for sure, as Fury Road pummels ahead in an
unrelenting car chase across the desert (the film was shot in Namibia) as Max,
Furiosa, and her quintet of escapees evade warlord Immortan Joe (Hugo
Keays-Byrne) and his army of testosterone-heavy skeletons who can’t wait to die
in battle. Miller presents one full-throttle set piece after another as Fury Road essentially offers a two-hour
action sequence punctuated by the occasional pause for breath or, more rarely,
a line of dialogue. Fury Road is
load, fast, bombastic, and frenzied as tankers, big rigs, motorbikes, and car
accelerate and collide with more aggressive fury than two Hot Wheels mashed
together by a tot having a good time. It’s a breathless car chase and more of a
gas-guzzler than all of the Fast and Furious films put together.
Fury
Road escapes the monotony of most other actioners
that are light on substance and heavy on pizzazz thanks to the sheer insanity
of Miller’s direction. The film’s a technical feat as it presents some action
sequences and disasters that would impress even as CGI cop-outs, but as an
orchestration of practical effects and stunt work, Fury Road stuns: making a film with this much mayhem is no easy
feat. (There’s no need to see the film in 3D, although the overwhelming sound
and bass of an Ultra AVX screen is worth the ticket.) Top-notch cinematography,
editing, and an operatically propulsive score by Junkie XL make the experience
doubly thrilling. Fury Road never
takes itself too seriously, either, despite the bleakness of the barren
post-apocalyptic landscape and the grimness of its weary road warriors. Miller
brings a comic touch to the fracas with the a hilarious goon at the helm of
Immortan Joe’s army: the soldier is a living hood ornament who plays the
electric guitar throughout the non-stop nonsensical action, which spews fires
with ejaculatory fury while the rest of Joe’s band pummels on the kettle drums
to keep the boys pumped up. The film embraces the wild opus of Mad Max’s adrenaline-fuelled thrill, and
it’s hard not to go along for the ride.
Fury
Road, however, lives on the premise that
spectacular action and flawless technical work is enough to carry a film. The
film undoubtedly succeeds in these regards. Audiences looking for more will
find the film lacking and disposable, although Theron especially gives the film
enough punch and conviction. The depth of the two leads and the notable
feminist bent keeps the film at a premium grade over other unleaded
blockbusters even though Fury Road ultimately
provides little else in terms of substance. After such an exhausting doomsday
ride, audiences can leave the theatre on an adrenaline high and leave the film
at the door. Summer movie escapism, indeed.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Mad Max: Fury Road is now
playing in wide release from Warner Bros Pictures Canada.