An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland. Written by Production.
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Dark Yet Visually Exhilarating. Beautifully Brutal and Yet Still Visceral
13 May 2015 | by prospectus_capricornium (Philippines) – See all my reviews
Even at the beginning, there's no hint MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is going to a stop. Right at the very start, the engines are already rewing, gathering furious fires of vengeance and redemption, and before the audience could snap out of the sheer moments of brutal grittiness and exhilarating high-octane drama, they are surely already held hostage within the confines of a post-apocalyptic world, where everything is horrendously scarce. Not that it's a bad thing, no it's not. I tell you, this is like being hurled into the space in a roller-coaster ride. It's dangerous, but it's also thrilling. Witnessing this dystopic world and all its hellish drama unfold might make you grope for seatbelt under your seat.
The film shares Max Rockatansky's (Tom Hardy) adventures. Max is an ex highway patrolman. He's been haunted by the past, by family he never saved. He meets the Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who is being pursued by the dictatorial Wasteland leader "Joe". Furiosa reaches for Max for help in keeping the 'Five Wives'—women she brought with her—into safety, as Joe's deranged breed of warriors called The War Boys, that are barely humans, are raging across the desert to capture them. This pursuit throws the unlikely partners into the whalloping dangers of bloody escape, suddenly sending them into a game of survival.
After a rip-roaring opening chase sequence, Max is held captive in the Citadel, the city where the ruthlessly totalitarian leader "Joe" is ruling over. The grotesquely brutal lord maintains tight grip of every valuable resouces across the land. This brings the entire populace crippling under his control. As for Max, he becomes merely a blood bag for Nux (Nick Hoult) one of Joe's War Boys, who is a fatal devout to the cause of their fascist leader, who has promised them the glory of getting into Valhalla, the promised land.
Everything in this cinematic behemoth screams grandeur, even the feverish chase, even the dark erubescents spurred from the ruthless violence. Miller has molded a world where darkness is an escape from the stream of clichés and retreads, surging into the cinemas, today. It's a visual feast, but surprisingly, with sense. It's explosive in every unimaginable ways, but it's not devoid of a human story, which in this case, is propelled by stellar performances from incredible actors on the movie's payroll. Tom Hardy is utterly capable as the main hero, but the emotional spine of the narrative mostly runs on Theron's character. At some point, there would be a sense that Max isn't the only one playing under the spotlight, as it gets evident Furiosa is equally as massive as his role is. Hardy here is singularly stunning, playing his role with utmost credibility as he is required. His mission transcends past his emotional torments and he's never pulled himself free from the ghosts if his past. Same can be said with Furiosa, who is not only running from Joe because she wants to get herself free from his cut throat grip, but also to bring every woman into safety, back to freedom where they belong.
Much of the movie is spent with furious speed chases that goes from end to end of Joe's subjugated land, while also taking surprising twists and turns along the way. It's like it doesn't know how to stop, and if it does, that's surely only to allow us breathe and catch up with the next electrifying action setpiece. There's an enigmatic style Miller has employed to provide distinctions in his fantasy world, and it keeps the momentum in tack, if not ever progressing. The tone of the movie, all those vividly dark colors, that magically shifts from something to another, imparts a drowning experience, only it's enjoying and looks festive to the eyes. This makes every eye-squashing spectacles take mammoth forms of visual extravaganza, turning all those burning combustions, metal blasts, and endless pursuits, from mere technical marvels into a hair-raising escapade.
Amid these sanity-grabbing action sequences, though, is an emotional streak that keeps Max and Furiousa's humanity alive. This prompts them to survival, into carrying out their similar humane causes, clinging tightly to their only mission even if they get hurled into the barbaric hostilities of their dystopian society. This turns the movie into something visceral, cathartic in some ways that probably only a small fraction of the audience could understand. It will not be enough to merit this achievement with merely a splurge of superlatives. This needs to be experienced, felt, and forever cherished. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, ignites eternal fire, and it will keep burning through the stretches of cinematic history.
This means the film has a running time in excess of two hours and its a lot to digest. There is so much action that we as a viewer get exhausted watching it. The gang of kids we never really get to meet. Only Tom has a purpose, the others I couldn't even tell you their names. I guess they could have been left out the script as none of them were useful. One of them started complaining at the start, suggesting a possible conflict but them he just shut up for the rest of the film.
Then there are all the new cast members who become redundant mere minutes after being introduced. Eventually you start to wonder if some of these people could have been left out the movie to make a much tighter edit.
The sets are however outstanding. The scorched Earth is something I want to see again. You do start wondering though - if all these giant mazes are apparently around the place, with green pastures inside. Why would anyone live in the desert when they can live quite happily inside the maze?
The action is great, most scenes make sense (although there is one jump cut from we have to take cover from the storm to the next morning). There are times when you have to ignore logic like needing food and water, leaving guns behind and stuff like that. But this was an enjoyable film which is very fast paced, if perhaps a little too much of a good thing but still a great film that you need to see on the big screen.