Mad Max Fury Road (9/10): Geroge Miller's vision perfectly executed in this action pounding orchestra of a film

“As the world fell it was hard to know who was more crazy. Me... Or everyone else.”

To describe George Miller’s fourth post-apocalyptic Mad Max film as crazy would be an understatement because it is one of those rare over the top and unique action films that keeps you at the edge of your seat during its entire runtime with fantastic car chases and inventive fighting scenes that feel like a breath of fresh air in an era dominated by CGI effects. The visuals absolutely stun you and Miller’s amazing vision of this apocalyptic wasteland is beautifully captured through the camera. It may have taken 30 years for this sequel to be released, but it is a huge improvement over Beyond Thunderdome and it manages to build on what The Road Warrior had achieved by introducing a much more chaotic world and colorful characters. Fury Road works both ways as either a sequel or a reboot, and it erases most of the problems I had with Max’s character in the previous film. This is a return to what Miller had done in The Road Warrior, but with a much higher budget to work with and that allowed his vision to be fully fulfilled here. Three more Mad Max films are already in the talks and I can’t wait to embark with Max on his next adventures. This is going to be a very difficult film to top and so far it’s the best 2015 has to offer.

In Fury Road, Tom Hardy replaces Mel Gibson for the lead role of Max, a wondering warrior who’s still coping with the loss of his wife and son as he travels through the post-apocalyptic deserted wasteland. The film begins with a group of bandits chasing Max who eventually capture him and take him to The Citadel, where a ruthless leader named Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) controls the water supply for the masses that have gathered below the heights of the mountain where he is based. Joe doesn’t just control the water supply, he also has a large army of War Boys who he has trained to sacrifice themselves willingly for his service, farming women who breed their breast milk, and even several beautiful wives to give him children. Joe has created quite an empire, and Max has been enslaved to serve as a blood donor for the injured War Boys. We are introduced to this crazy place and its rules as Joe sends his trusted lieutenant, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) on a local errand with her fuel filled rig to Gasland. However, she  decides to take another route and her intentions are soon revealed. She is helping some of Joe’s wives escape from their enslavement promising to lead them to the green lands. When Joe discovers that she has betrayed him he sends all his boys out on a desperate chase and that includes Nux (Nicholas Hoult), one of the War Boys who is using Max as his personal blood bag. Nux chains Max to the front of his vehicle and brings him along the desperate and nonstop chase that ensues. For the next two hours Fury Road is basically one extensive chase that will get the entire audiences’ blood pumping.  

I’ve praised Miller’s vision and his direction, as well as the spectacular action set pieces he has crafted, but it wouldn’t do this film justice if the cast didn’t receive its share of praise as well. It isn’t easy to fill the shoes of such an iconic character like Mad Max, but Tom Hardy pulled it off in a very convincing matter. As much as I like Mel Gibson, I have to give Hardy a lot of praise for delivering such an entertaining performance. He is one of my favorite actors working today. It was also great to see Hugh Keays-Byrne back in a Mad Max film playing a different character this time, but he absolutely nailed the menacing role of Joe. Nicholas Hoult was also a pleasant surprise, but perhaps the greatest addition to this franchise was Charlize Theron’s Furiosa who injects the film with a very much needed feminist tone. Theron delivers perhaps the strongest and most memorable role in the movie and she is one kick-ass action star. It helped that she got a lot of action scenes where she actually got to do something instead of being the damsel in distress. The look of the film is also breathtaking, and the way that Miller envisions this world is simply fantastic. The cool vehicles are built from all sorts of scrappy metals and materials you’d collect in the wasteland. Everything about this film is simply fantastic and the action scenes don’t disappoint one bit. You will feel the rush from the very opening scene and it will continue long after the credits begin to roll. Fury Road is the best film of the franchise.   

Mad Max (7/10): A totally bonkers but entertaining experience!

“I am the Nightrider. I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller!”

Due to the upcoming Mad Max sequel starring Tom Hardy, I decided to watch the previous films because I had never had the opportunity to do so. Mad Max was a surprisingly fun experience, despite its low budget and cheesy effects (which when you take into account that they were made in 1979 are actually quite good). A relatively unknown Mel Gibson played the titular role in this apocalyptic future where the Australian police force is doing what they can to uphold the law against the various menacing gangs in the wastelands. The film opens with a car chase involving a couple of cops and a cop-killer known as Nightrider. He has stolen a police vehicle and is crazily driving through the streets while threatening the police force through their radio. The stage is set for this wildly violent world set in a decaying society. Despite the very low production budget that director George Miller had to work with, he was able to pull off some impressive car stunts, which feel quite fresh now that we’ve been exposed to so much CGI. When the cops are unable to catch up to the Nightrider, Max shows up to save the day. He is a police man who has grown weary of the violence and wants out. He’d much rather spend his days in retirement with his beautiful wife, Jessie (Joanne Samuel), and their young boy. But somehow the chief and his partner Jim Goose (Steve Bisley) always manage to convince Max to stay on the force because they consider him to be the hero figure that the society needs. However, things begin to get even more hectic when a group of bikers arrive in town to avenge their friend, Nightrider. Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) is the leader of the band and they begin to spread more fear and caos in the streets. The premise is set for a fun and bonkers film.

Mad Max had all the right ingredients to become a cult-classic film thanks in most part to the fantastic direction from George Miller who made this, his first feature film, with an extremely low budget. Some of the story elements feel very familiar now, but you can’t help but feel intrigued by this apocalyptic world and the way each car stunt was executed to perfection. By the time the sequel came out, Mad Max was viewed by more people and its cult status quickly died down. And that is why now, 30 years after the third film in the franchise came out we are getting an expensive Blockbuster sequel which surprisingly looks very promising. I expected Mad Max to be more than anything a star vehicle for Mel Gibson who ruled the box office during the 80’s and 90’s with his irresistible charm, but surprisingly this break out role for him didn’t focus so much on him. It is more about the world that Miller creates, and Gibson didn’t really have to do or say much. This isn’t a film you can go back to and say that he was a star in the making because everything that made him so popular in his next films was watered down here. He gives a solid and restrained performance, but I found the performances from Hugh Keays-Byrne and Steve Bisley to be the most memorable ones. Mad Max is far from being perfect, but you can see how many modern films borrowed heavily from its violent story. Mad Max is a futuristic sci-fi film that borrows common themes from the vigilante revenge films we’ve been so exposed to all these years.