Mad Max: Fury Road
Directed by George Miller
Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, and Zoe Kravitz.
Backstory
Mad Max is another of those embarrassing gaps in my personal movie history. I have fuzzy memories of watching Beyond Thunderdome when I was a kid, and that’s about it. But, like most folks, when the trailers for Fury Road came along and looked incredibly insane, I grew curiouser and curiouser about this film. Throw in incredibly good reviews and a desire to get out and do something on the May long weekend, and I was off to the movies.
Plot
After the collapse of society, thanks to nuclear wars and growing disputes over the remaining natural resources, most of the planet is a desolate wasteland. In this wasteland roams a lone warrior named Max. Max is captured by a gang led by a dictatorial ruler named Immortan Joe, and Max is to be used as a blood bank. Max soon gets dragged along to be used as a blood bag when one of Immortan Joe’s best drivers, the Imperator Furiosa, goes rogue, and Immortan Joe’s troops pursue. Furiosa is smuggling out Immortan Joe’s harem…young women that he’s been forcing to bear his children. Max soon gets swept up with Furiosa and the women as they seek to escape Immortan Joe and head to fabled land known only as “The Green Place.” Will Max, Furiosa, and the women outrun Immortan Joe and his gang and make it to the Green Place?
What I Liked
Wow. They’re not kidding when they say this movie is mostly a car chase. And what a car chase! There’s such insane rigs and cars and vehicles and it just barely lets up. Well, it does let up once in a while, to give the characters a chance to catch their breath, and some character development. Tom Hardy makes a good Max, as he really is a man of few words. Charlize Theron is easily Max’s equal as Furiosa, and all the women get a chance to shine.
What I Didn’t Like
As much as I like car chases and explosions, it does wear on after a bit.
Final Verdict
An excellent summer film. Highly entertaining, great action, great characters.