Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Arriving at the same conclusion as Armond is fine. Echoing him isn't. So for a change let's see you get a judgement in on a film before he publishes his own view.

As I said, it's fine to be wrong, but I hate to think some people post crap here that they don't actually believe. What would be the point?

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Excellent. Plus we'll pull a train on Mrs. Santa's sister.

With her full consent. In writing. In triplicate.

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What's going on with Fury Road? It seems to have had the most protracted release of any recent film.

It looks fan-fucking-tastic. Wondering what the chances are of it not being a 12A, though.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

It looks fan-fucking-tastic. Wondering what the chances are of it not being a 12A, though.

Yeah the trailers have me really god damn excited. It'd be nice if it got an R-rating. I'd know to expect it to be even more bonkers.

This film isn't just great action filmmaking. It's some greatest-ever action filmmaking. See it as soon as you can.

It was a fun movie, though Hardy was duller than rye bread with a side of water. I saw the first Mad Max film yonks ago and don't remember the character being a mumbling, lobotomised non-entity. If Gibson-Max turned into such a being in the sequels, then I apologise for my ignorance and applaud Hardy and the writers for a sufficiently boring protagonist.

I noticed a lot of people complaining about some sort of man-hating angle, but I don't think it would've even occurred to me had I not heard it before seeing the film. I have no issues with gun-toting girls or Megan Gale's bare arse.

Overall, it probably is the best action movie in quite a while.

EDIT: And let me also say that it's easily the best Australian movie in decades. It's funny that a movie about a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future is far less depressing than the dreary shit this country's taxpayer-funded, terrace-dwelling class of filmmakers has tried to feed us for years (unsuccessfully at that, seeing as the only place you can generally view a new Australian production is in a garage in Newtown).

Despite having his name in the title, the films always seemed much more interested in the chases and supporting characters than their title character. Max has always been something of a cipher. Not really meant to be a lead compelling character, just someone we travel with on these crazy adventures and meet more interesting/colorful characters. He arguably has the same kind of story beats in all the sequels where he starts off as a drifter, reluctantly helps people in need, finds what's left of his humanity in the process, and then goes back to being a drifter at the end. With Hardy, this is supposed to be a Max who's been so cut off from society for so long that he's much more feral and untrusting of other people that he holds pregnant women at gunpoint. He's always been dickish in the sequels, but I kinda like that Miller took it further to the point that I didn't know if I wanted to root for him.

Harmsway wrote:

This film isn't just great action filmmaking. It's some greatest-ever action filmmaking. See it as soon as you can.

Glad you enjoyed it, Harms.

I've now seen MAD MAX: FURY ROAD twice and am already itching to see it again. My first viewing was in 3D (not IMAX 3D, though) and I have to say that I much preferred the film when I went on to rewatch it in 2D. Aside from making the opening shot look absolutely stunning, and from facilitating an enjoyably goofy moment near the end when one of the film's key props (those who have seen it will doubtless know that I'm referring to the

Spoiler:

) is seemingly hurled out of the screen towards the viewer's face, I didn't find that the 3D added all that much to the experience. I actually found it a bit distancing (plus, I found the glasses uncomfortable after a while, although that's certainly no fault of the film).

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is more than thrilling enough not to need 3D. Did I type "thrilling"? That seems a preposterous understatement. This is nothing more nor less than a cinematic rollercoaster ride of stupefying proportions. It's somehow apt that a heavy rock guitarist keeps popping up (don't ask, just see this incredible movie), for George Miller is to onscreen vehicular mayhem what Jimmy Page is to the blistering axe solo - an absolute virtuoso.

But he's more, much more, than a celluloid master of destruction, an action merchant interested solely in crashes and explosions (indeed, his CV shows an exceptional degree of versatility - this is also the director of LORENZO'S OIL, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, HAPPY FEET and so forth). If that were so, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, however well-made, would be a soulless and numbing affair. Instead, this is (by some distance) the most emotionally engaging of the MAD MAX sequels, chiefly because of surprisingly deft characterisation and fine performances. Tom Hardy takes such complete and self-assured possession of the Road Warrior role as to be the Daniel Craig to Mel Gibson's Sean Connery, while Charlize Theron also knocks it outta the park as the co-lead Furiosa. Hugh Keays-Byrne brings a remarkable amount of personality and menace to the entirely masked role of villain Immortan Joe. The supporting cast also features some memorable work, for instance from Nicholas Hoult (Nux) and Abbey Lee (The Dag). Crucially, there are people to care about in this movie, as opposed to mere fodder for carnage.

Leaving aside its justly-celebrated thrills and spills, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is absolutely stunning to look at (thanks in no small part to cinematographer John Seale), and gloriously steeped in the history of cinematic spectacle. Its visual DNA contains DeMille and Eisenstein as much as Lucas and Spielberg. The film also drops us into a "world" that appears as rich and complex as that of LORD OF THE RINGS, as well as - on its own terms - completely convincing.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is an outstanding, nay, awe-inspiring technical achievement. And it's a blockbuster with heart and brains. Since THE DARK KNIGHT, there have been a few other examples in recent years of that once-unimaginable thing, the cordon bleu action franchise entry, but this one may well be the best of the lot.  

Small gripes? Yes, I have a couple, since you ask: I found the action a little too incoherent at times, and the story a bit hard to follow in places. And one or two exposition-heavy scenes struck me as a trifle awkward. But those were issues that only really bothered me (insofar as they did, which wasn't much) on my initial viewing, when I also found myself wondering somewhat pointlessly whether I preferred the much more minimalist earlier MAXes. Second time round, though, I just settled down and enjoyed the ride - and man did I ever have a whale of a time. This is truly phenomenal stuff.

I'm going to see the 'rebranded' Clarkson, Hammond and May Live arena show this afternoon ... the cinema that is part of the same complex has a screening of Fury Road beginning half-an-hour after the show ends, so I'm thinking catching it for a second time to keep the 'vehicular mayhem' theme going seems like an excellent idea :) .

Indeed, one review of Fury Road I read said that 'This is like a dream Clarkson would have after eating too much cheese one evening' .