It’s been thirty years since we’ve last seen Max, ‘Mad Max’ for fans of the film trilogy from director George Miller, so it seems fair that a reboot was in order. If you’re a fan of those films, “Mad Max: Fury Road” is a welcome return. If you weren’t a fan, this probably won’t change your mind. However, if you’re new to ‘Max’ and enjoy non-stop live-action car chases involving steel-spiked souped-up cars that bounce on monster truck tires driven by maniacal punk-rock-dressed ruffians who hurl flames, harpoons, and crossbow and spear-induced mayhem upon their prey across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, then this film is for you.
Like any new viewer of the Mad Max films, my introduction to Miller’s films came through late-night cable and 1981’s “The Road Warrior,” the second installment of Miller’s Mad Max trilogy. While the appearance of a post-apocalyptic desert setting and weirdly-theatrical punk-rock clad baddies seemed daunting, what won me over was the live-action scenes- they were some of the best I’d ever seen, on par with any good James Bond film action sequence or even the chariot race in “Ben-Hur”- I found them surprisingly well-choreographed and executed.
While the post apocalyptic setting may have been new, what I soon realized with the Mad Max films was director Miller had managed to create a trilogy of futuristic westerns: instead of Indians clad in war paint rampaging against the settlers of a new frontier, Miller created punk-themed goons to take the Indians’ place and let them rampage against not new settlers but the last survivors of a newly-formed wasteland. In its protagonist Max (Mel Gibson), we saw what Sergio Leone had given us with ‘The Man with No Name’ (Clint Eastwood) in his spaghetti westerns, a drifter with a hidden past who happens upon desperate people and aids them in overcoming an impending peril (likening “The Good, the Bad and The Ugly,” “A Fistful of Dollars,” and “A Few Dollars More” to “Mad Max,” “The Road Warrior,” and “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” isn’t a stretch, Miller did it himself in 1985’s ‘Thunderdome’ by introducing Max’s entrance into Thunderdome to the residents of Bartertown by calling him ‘The Man With No Name.’) With “Mad Max: Fury Road,” director Miller fills much of its running time with these great live-action scenes and shows his skill once again.
“Fury Road” keeps that same formulaic western story but thanks to Miller himself helming the reboot, you’re not likely to care- the familiarity makes Miller’s style and direction that much more formidable. “Fury” begins with Max (now played by Tom Hardy, nicely filling Gibson’s shoes and adding a haunted, nightmare-ravaged dimension to Max’s character) seized by scavengers and taken to the Citadel, a city run by a tyrant named Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne-‘Toecutter’ in the original “Mad Max”) . While Max’s blood is harvested to feed Immortan’s slave labor force/soldiers called War Boys, namely one called Nux (Nicholas Hoult), a War Rig truck driven by Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is sent to procure gasoline but has veered from its destination. Much to Immortan’s chagrin, the Rig is found to contain Immogen’s wives as hidden cargo that Furiosa plans to rescue and take to a “green place” where they can live in peace. Nux, wanting Immortan’s favor, decides to pursue Furiosa with the other War Boys, his blood-slave Max in tow. During the pursuit, Max manages to free himself and together with Furiosa, Nux, and Immortan’s wives await the unleashing of Immortan’s fury.
Again, while formulaic, the futuristic atmosphere and Miller’s action scenes steal all of the Mad Max movies and “Fury Road” is no exception. The most surprising thing about “Fury” is that Miller does what he does best- creating great live action scenes without the abundance of CGI effects. It’s a real credit to Miller in keeping the CGI effects to a minimum, but that’s why his Mad Max movies are loved by its fans- the painstaking care he places in his action scenes grabs your attention. Even while a lot of “Fury Road’s” action scenes are reminiscent of “The Road Warrior,” Miller still adds some twists that manage to keep the action fresh. But, as I’ve said, Miller makes the familiar formidable.
When “Fury” does pause to take a breath in the action with scenes between supporting characters, these scenes offer nice insights into “Fury’s” characters: their humanistic dreams and fears, their hopes and redemptive goals. As Miller’s action scenes are hallmark to his work in the Mad Max films, so are his sporadic humanistic scenes that give the audience a glimpse into its characters that’s rarely seen in formulaic action films.
While their plotlines may seem standard, the Mad Max films and its latest installment “Fury Road” are anything but. Like a good John Ford western, Miller’s direction, visual style, and shades of humanism within its characters amidst the chaos are the real stars of all of the Mad Max films. While other roads and movies may be well-traveled, rarely are movies like Miller’s Mad Max films and “Fury Road” as traveled well or worth your time to ride.