It took over ten years for Mad Max to return to the big screen, originally set to hit theaters back in summer of 2004 and Mel Gibson was set to reprise his iconic role. Unfortunately, the filmmakers ran into some troubles securing locations and budget and the film was put on hold. 11 years later, the new film is ready for prime time with a new cast and bigger budget.
It never really implied but Fury Road picks up right around the time when Beyond Thunderdome ended. Max (Tom Hardy) still has his long hair from the last film and wandering in the wasteland. Suddenly he’s being chase by some awful looking men and then gets captured. He’s brought to another strange city called the Citadel, here it’s being ruled by a mad man named Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, same actor who played the main villain in the original film) and his War Boys.
Max is being use as a blood transferor to these War Boys and one of them named Nux (Nicholas Hoult) takes advantage of that right away. Joe rules the city by giving water to its citizens only few drops and false hope. Then we were introduced to Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who decided to betray Joe by stealing his wives to take them to a safer place called the “green place”. When Joe finds out, he and his War Boys sets out to bring the wives back and kill Furiosa. During the chase, Max got caught in the middle and has no choice but to become a hero again. Anyone who have seen the previous films will know that this franchise isn’t about deep plot, it’s about action and lots of car/truck chases.
If you want to see action, this is the movie to see. Just like last year’s John Wick, this film never tried to be anything but a non-stop wall to wall action. George Miller staged some of the craziest and most brutal action sequences I’ve ever seen. Some of the stunts he shot were just mind-blowing and best of all, he kept the cameras still and we the audience can see all the spectacular action sequences. But amidst all the chaos, he’s still able to give each of the characters some screen time and we got to know their motivations. Kudos also go to the film’s cinematographer John Seale, he shot the movie in digital and the picture looks amazing. I didn’t see it in 3D but clearly he and Miller shot the film with 3D in mind. The film’s soundtrack by Junkie XL was quite amazing; the thundering sound definitely enhances the action scenes.
Even though he only had a few lines of dialogs, Tom Hardy was very convincing as the brutal action hero. He shoots, punches and kicks his enemies without hesitation. Clearly he’s trying to differentiate his Max from that of Gibson’s. Here Max is more of a brute while Gibson’s version was more laid back and not as cold as Hardy. Theron on the other was marvelous as Furiousa, she’s the best female action hero since Ripley in the Alien films. In fact, I think they should have named the movie Mad Max and Furiosa. She’s as tough as Max and kick some serious ass. There’s a fight scene between her and Max that was quite fun to watch and she could definitely handle herself.
I actually think the movie was really about Furiosa since Max was just there to help out. Nicholas Hoult’s character started out as a foe but then became part of the team and I liked his character. We also got to know each of Joe’s wives; they’re not there to just be eye candy. As for Immortan Joe, well he’s just another one-note villain that’s similar to Lord Humungus in the second film.
Fans of the series will get a kick out this one new film and maybe new comers will enjoy it as well. I do recommend that you watch one of the previous films before going into this one if you’ve never seen the previous films, particularly Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. You need to familiarize yourself with the weird and crazy world that Miller has created. As a fan of the series and action films, I truly enjoy this tremendous action picture. If there’s a theater in your area that has Dolby Atmos, I highly recommend you see it there. I plan to see it again in 3D and hopefully it’s as good as the first time I saw it.
Have you seen this movie? Well, what did YOU think?
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Seeing it tonight!
Hope you’ll enjoy it Jay, it’s a great ride.
This sounds like great fun. I haven’t seen a single negative review yet. Off to watch it in 3D tomorrow evening.
Yeah I couldn’t believe how well received it was by the major critics, after I saw the screening of it a few days ago, I thought maybe it will get like 70% rating on Rottentomatoes, not 98%!! Hope you’ll enjoy it, I’m seeing it again in 3D maybe this weekend.
Great review and I cannot wait to see this one, I need to watch the first 3 movies asap. This one looks really exciting.
Thanks Sati. You don’t have to watch all of the previous 3 films, just the second one would suffice. In fact, I thought the last film was kind of awful, so I’d recommend you skip it.
So great it’s living up to the hype!
You know I wasn’t that excited to see this movie, I was excited over 10 years ago when they announced that Gibson was coming back to play Max but when the film got delayed, I lost interest in it. I’m glad that the film got made and it turned out to be a great picture.
Oh man, I’m so excited for this one. Can’t wait to see it. Nice review, Ted!
Hope you’ll enjoy it Rodney! If there’s a theater with Dolby Atmos in your area, go see it there, you’ll feel every explosions and crashes.
As an old school Mad Max fan I was sceptical about Fury Road, but after reading your review: Color me excited!
Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. I’m a big fan of the first two films but the third one was pretty weak in my opinion. But I’m glad this one turned out to be excellent.
Well, needless to say I wanna see this! Interesting stuff Ted, thanks for that.
Hope you’ll enjoy it when you see it, the film was a great ride.
I agree with you on Theron. It was more her movie than Hardy’s, and she was bloody brilliant. Hoult was great too, I’d never seen him before but I loved him in this
I also haven’t seen either of the first two, which may have been an advantage. Though the awesomeness of this film makes me wonder why I should bother with the first two! Is that blasphemous?
Great write up!
Thanks Jordan! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this one even though you’ve never seen the previous films. I highly recommend you see the second film though, The Road Warrior’s a great action film.
Yeah I know its blasphemy, I must catch both the originals. Since Australia is still in the dark ages I think I’ll go rent them and see what I think. Though after seeing FURY ROAD I’m not sure how it could compare! I’m gonna have to try and forget the new one as much as I can!
Thanks for the rec, I wasn’t going to, but you (and my dad) have convinced me. I need to see the originals!!
Cheers mate
I really do want to see this but I’m going to wait a while as I’m currently doing my Cannes marathon.
Hey I’ll be over to check out your Cannes marathon Steven!
Cool review. Can’t wait to see this one!
Hope you’ll enjoy it Fernando, it’s a great summer flick!
Saw this last night in IMAX 3D (some neat 3D moments but not essential), enjoyably crazy and over the top – Hardy, Theron and Hoult were great and the action sequences exhilirating. It felt like a continuation of the Mad Max films yet updated for the modern blockbuster audience in terms of the non-stop action.
Fingers crossed it does well enough for a sequel to be green lit. Max felt like more of a secondary character at times, would like to see him more at the forefront in the next one.
You’re one of the lucky ones who saw it on IMAX, apparently it’s only playing at 3 IMAX theaters here in the States. Disney booked all the other IMAX locations for Age of Ultron until their new film Tomorrowland opens later this month.
Yeah it’s definitely a continuation of the franchise and not a reboot, I’m glad Miller decided to do that way because I’m sick of reboots.
It did okay at the domestic box office so hopefully it will make enough over seas for it to get a sequel.
Great review! I’d totally watch Mad Max: Furiosa. 🙂
Hey that could be the title of the sequel! But it’s unlikely since Max is gone and if/when the sequel comes out, he’ll be saving another group of people.
This is true… Would love to see Furiosa again, though. 🙂
Hi, Ted:
Great critique!
The world is starting to come up all roses for Mr. Hardy.
Excellent choice for taking on the ‘Mad Max’ mantle. Also looking forward to his playing 1960s London mobsters, Ronnie and Reginald Kray in ‘Legend’ sometime late this year or early next!
Should make a great double bill opposite my DVD of ‘The Krays’ (!990) with Billie Whitelaw and Gary and Martin Kemp. The ‘Spandau Ballet’ twins as the Krays!
Hey Jack, hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did when you see it.
I just saw the trailer of Legend, looks very interesting. I remember seeing The Krays way back in early 90s and I liked it. Wonder how this new one will turn out.
Glad you liked it. I’m seeing it soon, and I can’t wait! 🙂
Hope you’ll enjoy it Josh, I didn’t have expectations for it and I’m glad it turned out to be great action flick.
Such an awesomely crazy ride and definitely worth seeing in 3D.
Nice to hear that it’s worth seeing in 3D, I’m seeing it in that format next week.
Great review. Who would have thought this would have been this good?
Just fun bombastic film from start to finish 😀
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