There are some minor spoilers here so beware!

 

I am at a complete loss for words on how to begin because there are so many A-MA-ZING aspects to this movie!...but I’ll try. From the opening moments where we are introduced once more to the character of Max Rockatansky, the film takes us on one exhilarating, jaw-dropping, dazzling vehicular chase, and in the case of this movie coming a long way to completion (about four years from the start of filming), the term “worth the wait” doesn’t even come close!!

 

George Miller has done something incredible: he’s shown all those younger hot shot directors positioning themselves to be the second coming of summer blockbuster tent pole movies that a 70-year-old writer/director can beat the shit out of your film any day!! Needless to say, the action and stunts in “Fury Road” make “Furious 7” and “Fast & Furious 6” look like a cub scout’s go-kart meet. As the lights dimmed in the theatre I was very aware that the audience around me was seriously in tune with their finger on the pulse of watching this movie, as even the opening credits brought cheers and great applause. Let’s get down to the stars of this exhilarating movie experience.

 

Taking up from where Mel Gibson left off in the mid-80’s, Tom Hardy is the new Max, supposedly some time after the events of “The Road Warrior”, although it’s been stated that this is not to specifically be located within the already existing Mel Gibson trilogy. Max is a bit more animal-like at times, finding himself captured by a group called War Boys and turned into a “blood bag” for one of the savage group’s members, Nux. The set-up to Max being brought down at the beginning is perhaps shorter than it should be, finding the iconic character hitting the dirt after his Interceptor is almost totaled in the first moments of the film quicker than he would have allowed.

 

How is Mad Max so easily defeated? Are we to believe that he has been worn down by the post apocalyptic world he lives in?; this is never explained or demonstrated. Perhaps it might have been a stronger open to either have the War Boys finding Max lying unconscious in the wasteland, or even better, string out yet one more exciting chase sequence, taking some of the Boys out before succumbing to capture.

 

Tom Hardy’s version of Max seems a bit more savage at times, and that might not be to the taste of long time fans. I would counter that perhaps George Miller wanted to exude the name “Mad Max” just that much more for 21st Century audiences. Max’s disturbing visions of a young girl he failed to save are never quite explained or referenced properly, even though it could have easily been turned into the death of his wife and child in the first movie back to haunt him. This is a minor gripe for sure.

 

A lack of any extended dialogue in the new film allows it to breath on its own without heavy explanation, as that was one of the ways “The Road Warrior” succeeded; with actions and not a lot of words. The interesting aspect of this hero-named high octane spectacle is that slowly but surely, Max begins to take a bit of a back seat to Charlize Theron’s character, Imperator Furiosa, who all but leads the fight and battle as things heat up, which they do very quickly, holding in sheer dazzlement for the remainder of the movie. The fight between Max and Furiosa in their initial meeting is a hard-edged, satisfyingly choreographed and photographed hand to hand struggle that really services the determination of Furiosa’s character.

 

The term “iconic female action hero” is something that only comes around once every ten or more years it seems, with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from the Alien movies beginning in the 80’s, Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor grabbing the mantle of take-charge action heroine as the 80’s turned into the 90’s with “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”, and Carrie Anne Moss’ Trinity real time defying fight moves from “The Matrix”, upstaging Keanu Reeves’ Neo at times.

 

Charlize Theron as Furiosa; an incredible performance by a fantastic actress who bares much raving about, ultimately owns this movie, as well as now joining these strongly written female characters/heroes with not only her toughness, resolve and intelligence, but the underlying emotional depth the character covers up with war paint and daring survival tactics. But wait there’s more! The one aspect of this stocked-to-the-roof carnage fest I did not see coming was how feminist the direction and tone of the story would arise.

 

Tyrannical cult leader King Immortan Joe, ferociously played by Hugh Keays-Byrne who also portrayed villain The Toecutter in the original “Mad Max”, discovers that his Five Wives - women specially selected for breeding - are gone. Joe leads his entire War Boy army in pursuit of Furiosa, calling on the aid of two other war tribes. And if you think these Five Wives merely become damsels in distress, you’d be dead wrong! Most of these girls think and fight and take on the men whenever they can, which is only expanded when Max, Furiosa and the girls come upon a group of bikers in the wasteland…but I’ll say no more.

 

Nicholas Hoult (“X-Men: First Class” and “Days of Future Past”) plays Nux, one of the War Boys who only wishes to be held high in the end for having done something resoundingly impactful for leader Immortan Joe. But it’s his realization of true purpose, as the struggle unfolds, that brings heart to the film alongside Charleze Theron. In previous Mad Max movies, it was Mel Gibson’s version of the character that held the emotion of the viewer, seeing this brutal and crumbling world through his eyes, at times alone. But here we are presented with characters such as Nux initially on the other side of the good that Max and Furiosa represent who are delved into and explored. It’s a different aspect that adds to the picture, but you still wonder at times why Max isn’t given more of center stage as much as he should. After all, it’s his name in the title. At the end of the day, this movie could have been called “Furiosa: Fury Road”.

 

And then there are the non-stop movie-length action sequences, which are brilliantly orchestrated throughout the entire picture!! Director George Miller has retained his mastery of using practical effects, and “Fury Road” never lacks for an abundance of realistic vehicular spectacle. There are certainly a few recognizable CG shots here and there, but most of the movie you’re sitting there saying, “How the hell did they do that?!” Maniacally designed cars and trucks crash and roll, humans go flying in the air with veracity and wide desert shots with vehicles and characters up close and in the distance are just that…REAL! There are many times in the current glut of overly CG-ed movies where destruction and the people affected by it look almost cartoonish, or even as though they belong in a video game. I really believe practical effects are becoming how many have realized vinyl records sound better than digital music. There’s immediacy to practical that CG effects only seem to mimic at times with less than realistic results, especially in big event movies.

 

And that brings us to the art direction and fantastic, uniquely designed gear, weapons, tools and vehicles that functionally populate the film’s landscape. These aren’t just monster cars and trucks for the sake of going bigger than ever before; there’s a lethal working sense to the heavily armed attack transportation of the tribes that pursue our heroes throughout, as well as taking sometimes recognizable yet obscure everyday items and mashing them together to create things like Max’s metal mask at the beginning, mix and match arrow launchers, hand guns and sight rifles. Wonderfully pieced costumes and standout makeup also bring just the right edge to this world and the damaged beings herein, once again creatively pulling in the garbage of the old world to survive in the new one.

 

One costume in particular I very much appreciated is that of Max, with Tom Hardy retaining the one armed leather jacket, one shoulder pad and near leg brace the character sported in “The Road Warrior”; surely another touch that writer/director Miller felt essential to retain the character’s best remembered and most iconic look and presence.

 

Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, has created an aggressive muscular score with heavy drums and bold chords, often reverbed by the flamethrower axe player that rides atop a mountain of speakers on a truck during the pursuit of Max and Furiosa throughout the wasteland. Holkenborg handily takes on the sheer volume of spectacle happening in this movie, taking over the reins from the late Brian May, who scored the first two of George Miller’s Max movies; Maurice Jarre having composed for “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”.

 

There’s one thing I must admit coming away from seeing this highly anticipated movie of the summer; after the hype, the trailers and advanced footage presented and seen at recent events, I almost felt as though I was expecting just a little bit more. This was something I struggled with coming out of the theatre afterwards. I absolutely LOVE this film and it definitely kicks more ass than the lot of what this summer has to offer! And yet, I wanted to appreciate it just that much more. Did I see too many action clips in advance? Possibly, but that still does not take away from how insanely awesome they are. Did I fill myself with reading too much overwhelming critical delight before the movie? Again, that could be. I think when I go back to see it a second time I’ll fully embrace and revel just that much more in the complete package of slam bang wonders within without feeling just slightly like Oliver when he took his plate to the front and said, “More, please.”

 

I will say that “Mad Max: Fury Road” is absolutely the best and most satisfying movie of the summer thus far, definitely going above the heads of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Furious 7” in its power and ability to truly astound. I would also go as far to say this movie is a benchmark, even compared to the way “The Matrix” made audiences realize in 1999 that the game had at that moment been forever changed at the movies. Marvel writers and directors, you’ve just been “powned” by George Miller!!!