Mad Max Fury Road Review

Mad Max Fury Road Review

When it comes to Science Fiction movies these days, those that aren’t expected to be box-office hits often end up doing well. Movies such as Looper and The Matrix are good examples. The same can be said of Mad Max: Fury Road. The movie, directed by George Miller, has been in development hell for years. I still remember looking at its IMDB page back in the late 90’s. Fans were excited, but those who had not seen the original Mad Max probably wouldn’t care much for Fury Road. Yet, George Miller delivered. By rebooting the franchise with two new leads, Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Tom Hardy as the titular Mad Max, a movie was created that takes the post-apocalyptic premise to a new high amidst exploding trucks, bodies torn limb from limb and grannies with sniper rifles.

A small synopsis…

I will attempt not to spoiler too much I this Mad Max Fury Road Review. However, if you proceed any further know there are SPOILERS. For those who have seen the previous Mad Max movies need no introduction to the setting. Max still rides the outback with his V8. After he is captured by the despot Immortan Joe he unwittingly becomes involved in Joe’s chase of Imperator Furiosa. She was trusted by Joe to collect gasoline but after she veered of course Joe discovered she has stolen his five wives in an attempt to give them better lives. Max has to survive the early stages of the chase shackled to the hood of Joe’s ally Nux. After he manages to free himself he is only slowly trusted by Furiosa. She has however no choice but to accept his help. Along their flight they come across other violent pursuers and even a gang of old-age women who hunt their own prey. After diluting Joe’s forces Furiosa and Max decide to take the five wives back to Joe’s hide-out as there is no save place in the outback. In the final part of the chase Furiosa manages to attach her fake arm against Joe’s macabre face mask and fling a rope attached to it into the wheels of his car which rips off his face. A dead Joe is paraded in front of his hide-out and Furiosa is accepted as the new leader. She glances over one more time to Max and they exchange a smile before he disappears into the crowd.

Too feminist?

Mad Max Fury Road received criticism from an unexpected source. Several so-called men’s rights groups have labeled the movie as too feminist. I found Mad Max Fury Road merely has lot of strong female characters. Charlize Theron’s Furiosa is both physically strong and strong-willed, but not afraid to call for help from Max when she needed it. The five wife’s of Immortan Joe may not bring much to the action physically, but they make up for it with sharpness of wit. Around two thirds into the movie Furiosa, Max and the five girls reach their destination. Instead of green pastures it has turned into a wasteland occupied only by the Vuvalini, a group of aged female warriors, who brought up Furiosa about 20 years back. They are skeptical of Max as he is a man but after assurances from Furiosa they accept him. I say that proofs this movie is not sexist. Though when one of the Vuvalini acts as a trap when she shouts naked for help from a tower makes me think Max isn’t the first man they have come by. Charlize Theron and the five wives make for an interesting twist to the otherwise male dominated subgenre. I have to think back to Waterworld to remember a strong female lead. However, the first thing Jeanne Tripplehorn’s character Helen did to catch a ride was to take her clothes off. Charlize Theron embodies confidence, taking the fight back to Immortan Joe with certain knowledge that she is a dead woman anyway and anything she can do to help this terrible world is a bonus. There are some moments in the movie when director George Miller may have taken the pro-feminist thing too far. Seeing the five wives cut off their steel panties with locks on them went too far and distracted.

Conclusion

The Mad Max franchise is in many ways a successor to the Clint Eastwood Westerns. The Man With No Name theme continues in the fourth movie but now we also have Imperator Furiosa who is just like Max. We know very little off her, yet we understand her and we have empathy for her character. Throughout much of the movie when Tom Hardy’s Mad Max is off-screen or fighting Immortan’s allies we see events through Furiosa’s eyes. After a while it becomes clear that in fact she is the real character of the story, not Mad Max. Not that I have anything against Tom Hardy’s depiction. In fact the actor seems to continue his string of success after The Dark Knight Rises. As for Charlize Theron, I think she may just have starred in a movie I actually like. Mad Max is a very visual movie, fast paced scenes that slow down from time to time to give the plot a way to catch up. It is difficult to fully phrase why I like the movie, and not for example The Avengers 2 Age of Ultron. Mad Max is new, its fresh. It has Hugh Keays-Byrne as the diabolical Immortan Joe, it has flame-throwing guitars, grannies riding bikes, Tom Hardy and it has Charlize Theron. I just think this will be the best summer movie we can expect. This was Mad Max Fury Road Review. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Source; http://www.madmaxmovie.com/