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'Mad Max: Fury Road' 'Mad Max' returns with bombastic, non-stop vehicular mayhem
Boom: Tom Hardy stars as the titular character in the latest Mad Max film
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Boom: Tom Hardy stars as the titular character in the latest Mad Max film. Courtesy of Warner Bros
It took 30 years for George Miller to deliver the fourth installment of his iconic dystopian franchise ' and Mad Max: Fury Road is worth the wait.
It was a long road for the project to make it to the big screen. After releasing Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Miller went on to direct other movies, including Happy Feet.
After announcing the fourth Mad Max film in 2003, Miller battled a spate of financial difficulties and security concerns over plans to shoot in Namibia before bringing audiences back to the Wasteland.
The original, released in 1979, was a low-budget movie featuring Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a former cop and lone wolf who sets out to stop violent motor gangs and marauders in a dystopian Australia, where society has broken down following an energy crisis.
While staying true to its visceral world of gangsters and vehicle chase scenes in a dry, barren desert; Mad Max: Fury Road offers a substantial narrative and exhilarating action over its 120 minutes.
Things begin when Max (Tom Hardy) is captured and made a universal blood donor for the pale-skinned 'War Boys', led by the tyrannical Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who, in a nice touch, is played by the original film's villain, Toecutter).
Holding the controls of the water supply at the Citadel, Immortan Joe is worshiped as a god.
His skin covered with pale white powder and breathing through a skull-mask inhalator, Immortan Joe also owns specifically selected women to give him children.
However, he grows enraged when learning that his five prized breeders have fled with the help of a trusted lieutenant, the one-armed Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron).
Max, in a jailbreak attempt, gets unwillingly pulled into Furiosa's escape ' and experiences a vision of a young boy urging him to help others.
Driving the powerful War Rig, Max and Furiosa plow across the desert to her childhood home, the Green Place ' with Immortan in hot pursuit.
The film's acrobatic car chases and fights begin from its early minutes. There is a strange exhilaration watching the cars crash in the desert, bodies toasted in the air or ripped apart and a series of blazing explosions.
Miller relies on real stunt work and stunning cinematography by Oscar winner John Seale that captures every spectacular crash, jump and kick. The film is visceral, crazy action at its finest.
The car chases are supported by the gonzo personality that Miller creates for Immortan's platoon.
The fleet of over-the-top modified cars (and tanks) are accompanied by a cacophonous electric-guitar sound played by a minion strapped on a truck. Standing behind a massive pile of speakers, the man vigorously strums a flame-spitting guitar. It, somehow, brings the audiences deeper to the psychotic universe of the Wasteland.
The film's dialogue is minimal, embodying Miller's vision of a film that can be understood by non-English speakers without having to read subtitles.
Playing monosyllabic Max, Hardy gives a triumphant performance.
Nicholas Hoult stands out as Nux, a young and unhinged Immortan Joe soldier, more than willing to crash himself into an enemy's car or set himself on fire in hopes of reaching Valhalla in the afterlife, as promised by Immortan Joe.
Oddly, the Oscar-winner Theron seems to be main character in the movie. The film follows Imperator Furiosa's past, her journey for freedom and fight against tyranny ' with Max along for the ride.
Through sparse narrative, Theron commands the screen, embodying the fierceness and stoicism of a woman warrior.
Unlike other male-driven action thrillers, Mad Max: Fury Road appears to focus on women.
Aside from Furiosa's struggle, the film tells about the five ethereally beautiful women, who wage a fight for freedom and challenge their broodmare status. Furiosa, the wives (and more women fighters seen later) give an invigorating quasi-feminist touch to the action genre.
Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley portrays Splendid, the pregnant favored favorite wife of the warlord. It's a good fit and redeems Huntington-Whiteley after her unimpressive role in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a joy ride of gleeful, violent action. With its stunt achievements and narrative heft, the film takes the Mad Max franchise to a new level and dwarfs other mundanely scripted CGI Hollywood blockbusters.
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Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller
Script: George Miller, Brendan McCharthy and Nico Lathouris
Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrneas
Production company: Kennedy Miller Mitchell and Village Roadshow Pictures
Runtime: 120 minutes
