Minor Spoilers
Mad Max: Fury Road is an action picture; there is no doubt about that; but it's also very much a smart sci-fi picture. It's a film with a richly conceived world that, while bizarre, is incredibly creative. This was all true in The Road Warrior, and it's all true here. So what's the difference? Well, the difference comes in the same way it comes in all Mad Max movies. Each one of the films is less about the story of Max, and more about how the people around him perceive him. This concept was interesting in the each different film, giving Max a different flavor in each, but it didn't actually have anything to say or deepen the film's context. That is not the case with Fury Road. Not at all. Fury Road opts to make the storytellers the women around Max, and the result is surprisingly flavorful. The story, or what I can tell you has Max falling in with a high ranking officer of a warlord, who has just stolen the wives of the warlord. Max is shown as more of a feral person, and so is the world around him. It's all being told in the eyes of the women, and all the crazy shit that happens in the movie is only escalated, because the way that they see it is all the men in the world are, well, "mad." But I fear I may have dug too deep into this. The reality is, on the surface of the entire thing is a huge chase, and while that whole reality is a little bit jarring as the characters all fall into place, the subsequent hour and a half after it is exhilarating. While its deeper ideas provide the heart that embodies action movies of old George Miller has brought the action that he was so good at making in the 1980's. But christ, at 70 the man can think up some crazy shit. The action is some of the most breakneck, crazy and exciting I have ever seen, and it's all part of the world building just as much as the slower moments are. Immortan Joe controls his minions through promising them "a place in Valhalla" leading them to go and do even crazier shit, and the way that he drags a rock band along with him to excite his troops is almost hilarious. The certain vehicles that factions use... again I may have dug too deep into it lead to half the fun of watching the great action being in the details of it and if you have a grasp on them Fury Road is utterly thrilling. But you need good camera work to make good action and that is also here. The cinematography of the film is beautiful, with the over saturated color scheme making everything pop. It's definitely one of the best looking films in a while. Also the camera work on the fights is great; moving smoothly, and allowing the audience to get a good idea of where everything is. That's made even better by the editing which instead of going for quick cuts and shaky cam just speeds up the speed of the action a little bit every time it wants to make the action quicker, and more jarring. It's violent stuff. Now with all that out of the way, I can talk about the characters quickly. They are actually a lot like the ones in the older Max films. They are really well drawn with actors displaying their characteristics, and a thin script fueling their motivations. Max is more feral, and Hardy is very soft spoken. I really wish he had more lines, but it's all fine. The really good stuff though comes in with the colorful cast of supporting characters. Theron's Furiosa is an exciting contribution to the series, and Nux (Nicholas Holt) is given a very interesting arch that adds sweeter love tone to the film. But even better are the wives. Each of them gets their moment, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (yeah from the shit-storm that was Transformers: Dark of the Moon) get's one of the film’s best moments. There are a couple of those throughout the movie that really boost your want for the characters to succeed. Mad Max: Fury Road is a blast. A crazy, energetic, and emotional piece of action movie, that in its bizarreness may scare off a few, but will reward those who take it in and enjoy it. I give Mad Max: Fury Road a 9.5 out of 10. Written by Stephen Tronicek, Edited by Mia Rintoul.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |