Mad Max: Fury Road
Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron
Directed by George Miller
Like a punch to the gut, Mad Max explodes back onto the big screen and triumphantly thrusts the post-apocalyptic hero into the 21stcentury. However, the magnetic Tom Hardy has trouble filling Mel Gibson’s shoes as it quickly becomes apparent, Fury Road belongs to the ladies. 70-year old director George Miller steps back behind the camera once again to tell the tale of the iconic cult figure created over thirty years ago. Fear not though, the first three films are not required viewing in order to get up to speed when this new plot unfolds. Max is taken prisoner by a band of marauders led by the positively demonic Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who also played a villain in the 1979 original). Max escapes and reluctantly teams up with the one-armed Imperator Furiosa (Theron), who is helping some damsels in distress also escape from Joe’s treacherous clutches. A nearly two-hour car chase ensues that puts anything in the Fast and Furious movies to shame. For the most part, the stunts and crashes in Fury Road are achieved through practical effects, giving the film a visceral quality seldom seen in action movies today. Perhaps most surprising is the strong feminist angle of the film, which eventually becomes a wildly entertaining story of female empowerment. Theron does some of her best work here, essentially providing more grit and charisma than Hardy. Don’t expect a stellar script but Fury Road is a rare and precious gem is a crowded landscape of bland superheroes.
