Well, it's finally here. After 30 years, we finally have the next installment of the Mad Max series. There are two big questions to answer. First, was it worth the wait? Answer: Definitive YES!!! Second: Does it live up to the original? The answer: Pretty much.
Mad Max: Fury Road starts with us seeing our (new) hero, Max Rockatansky, now played by Tom Hardy. Not much has changed for our hero of the wastes, he's still a loner and still haunted by the murder of his family in the original Mad Max. Although he has inexplicably got his V8 Interceptor back (destroyed in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) and gotten a LOT bigger (courtesy Tom Hardy's fairly massive frame). Life out in the wastes seems to agree with Max in that sense. He quickly gets overrun and taken prisoner by a cult of people suffering from what appears to be cancer. Max is held because he is a Type O Negative blood type, and is being used as an involuntary donor to this cult's warriors called War Boys. When one of their best battle leaders, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), steals their leader's, Immortan Joe, (Hugh Keays-Byrne) favorite wives (breeders, held captive to produce more War Boys), it sets off a full-octane chase to bring Furiosa and the women back.
First, I do have to say, I really do miss Mel Gibson in this role. He would hint time and again he would reprise the role before he got his Passion of the Christ screw-you money and a few indelicate phone messages that has made him a radioactive pariah among Hollywood elites. The same elites that want to pardon a child-raping Roman Polanski and have excused a child molesting Woody Allen, but I digress. While Hollywood has never been consistent in its shaming of whatever celebrity, I do believe Gibson would have been better in the role and should have done it 20 years ago. That said, Tom a Hardy is a fine replacement. And truth be told, Max really hasn't even been a significant part of the last two flicks. His are just the eyes with which we take the story in. So just about anyone could step into this role and do it. And Tom a Hardy was very entertaining to watch in it. The movie also has a lot of rewards in Easter eggs for devoted fans that reference earlier films, from Immortan Joe being played by the same actor who played the original bad guy, Toecutter, to visual references big and small that call up the earlier films.
But the film has two secret weapons. The first is Furiosa. Theron gives her an anger and determination that seems perfectly realized and abilities that are not hokey at all. She plays, in effect, one of the best badasses I have seen in some time with both strength and weaknesses. She is not a superwoman, nor a shrinking violet. Indeed, all of the women are great in this film. A lot of hoopla had been raised by some knuckle-dragging Neanderthals that this movie was "feminist propaganda." I don't know if these groups were real or manufactured, but they are totally off-base. Does the film have strong women? Yes. Do they fit into this particular world? Yes. It is a harsh world where you are either a victim or a fighter. These women choose the latter, and that decision gives the movie some real gravitas.
The sevond weapon this movie has is its writer/director, George Miller. He has directed all the Mad Max films. This guy is a master at imagining a world gone crazy and carrying out some of the best stunt work and exciting camerawork ever done for an action movie. As over-the-top as this movie gets, and it gets really insane, nothing seems out of place. Everything is plausible; crazy, yes, but believable. Also, there are not many directors that can stand up with Miller when it comes to action. Watching this film is like taking a master's class in action filmmaking. His angles, tension, and crisp editing keep the action constant and exciting, and never lets up. This movie is essentially a big chase scene, and Miller pulls out all the stops to realize it. On top of his technical expertise, Miller insists on as much practical effects and stunt work as possible. Almost everything is done in camera with as little CGI as possible, further adding to the "Holy Crap!" factor of the film.
So if you want to be thoroughly entertained, go see this. It is one of the best action films I've seen in years, and it actually has something important to say as an added bonus. I have seen both the 2-D and 3-D versions. While the 3-D is fine, it doesn't really add that much value. The 2-D is just fine. But really, do yourself a favor and see this in a theater. It will lose a lot on a smaller TV screen.
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