I loved the first two Mad Max films (the third, the mellower, older Max- "Beyond Thunderdome" didn't work for me and ended on a let down) and really looked forward to this new series (a sequel is already planned). Fury Road consists of actors screaming at the top of their lungs, jumping from truck to car to car to underneath a car (or underneath a truck), over a ear splitting score as the sounds of rumbling, speeding, crashing, cars explode all around.
The original series had an interesting, heartfelt storyline (the multilayer-ed theme of loss and revenge are most prevalent), a rising, soon to be popular leading man (a now imploded Mel Gibson, also cut out of the film) and released during the OPEC energy crisis and the tail end of the cold war era which gave the films a sense of urgency. An era where for a few short seconds, we thought the films would mirror all of our future fears. Even the over the top actions of the villains made sense when applied with a dash of crude local Australian humor and sped up frames of film. Then there were the car chase progressions- not seen before on film.
Unfortunately, Fury Road has none of these things going for it. I get that Generation Z may enjoy this version of Mad Max but at a discount of the previous series themes which gave it cause. There is a religious fanaticism angle which could have had some bite but simple crudeness tramples over any clever thought or message which should have been retained from it. Regardless, religion as a control mechanism has been done to death in post-apocalyptic movies. It now seems like a unfunny practical joke. Fury Road at best, is a tired retread where Rob Zombie and Death metal music videos seem to be its greatest visual and narrative inspiration. The film becomes Mad Max for dummies without a real reason for it to be. It employs very little humor (although the villain's traveling "metal band" and some hokey 3D effects had me chuckling) or sense of indignation in the action sequences which come off dull. There are no surprises throughout its running time and every single actor with the exception of Charlize Theron looks just a bit confused as to why they are present. Personally, I thought Theron was the most interesting character in the film. She straddles the thin line between the empowered heroine and the damsel in distress with interesting buoyancy. Her character's name, Imperator Furiosa appears to be titled with humor.
As for Tom Hardy as Max, he was much more interesting with three quarters of his face covered as the mumbling Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (read/see review). Here Hardy looks bored in need of a sugary power bar to pep him up. At one point Max becomes the taxi driver for a group of pregnant passengers waiting to take Selfies at the end of the ride. Max only comes to life in the last 15 minutes for a sequence reminiscent of the Road Warrior but a little, too late to save the film. As for the villain...this reviewer cannot remember anything distinctive or compelling enough to write about him (or the group of faceless tumbling extras), other than he wears a skull face mask and barks out lines... "Immortan Joe! I remembered!"
This reviewer was also very surprised to see this film garner as much praise. Save yourself some time now and wait for the video, set for release in the fall.
