Mad Max: Fury Road cuts right to the chase. Literally, the entire movie is just one epic chase. One expertly choreographed, beautifully shot, and masterfully directed vehicular pursuit.
Fury Road is technically the fourth Mad Max movie to hit the silver screen; the last of which came out 30 years ago. The original starred Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a Main Force Patrol officer (or “MFP”) in a sand-ridden dystopic Australia.
Directed by George Miller, who created and directed the originals, Fury Road is an engrossing and vivid depiction of a post-apocalyptic world from the mind of George Miller. Tom Hardy, now known for his iconic portrayal of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, replaces Mel Gibson as the titular Max. He’s a quiet, soft-spoken character, which is perfectly fine considering the film was primarily made to be a visual experience.
It tells a simple narrative consisting of a chase between a woman named Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and an army of tyrannical people named the War Boys, led by the crazy cult leader Immortal Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Max is pulled into the mess after being captured by the War Boys in the first scene of the film.
Fury Road was actually ready to film in 2001, but after being in development limbo, finally came to the masses last Friday. Many moviegoers had the reboot under their radar for a while. The trailers were intense and crazy, and the casting was terrific as well. However, no one expected the movie to receive the critical and financial success that it did. Thankfully, Fury Road deserved every bit of praise.
George Miller not only co-wrote a solid screenplay for Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron to maneuver, but directed the movie expertly. Mad Max: Fury Road will now be the action movie that all future action films will be compared to. Though many action films recently have attempted to reinvent the genre, none will ever reach the heights George Miller has with Fury Road. No one put Mad Max in perspective better than Michael Philips from the Chicago Tribune.
“The creator of the original Mad Max trilogy has whipped up a gargantuan grunge symphony of vehicular mayhem that makes Furious 7 look like Curious George.”
Fury Road collected $44 million during opening weekend; proving that sometimes audiences do give their money to more under the radar franchises and blockbuster releases.
Fury Road proves the effectiveness of direction and choreography when it comes to filming an action movie. It also proves that sometimes an abundance of dialogue and fleshed out characters is not always necessary to create something truly captivating.
Mad Max: Fury Road will continue to blaze through movie theaters this summer, and I highly suggest that movie fans everywhere check this out.