Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

4 stars out of 5

I have very vague recollections of the original batch of Mad Max films. The Road Warrior, I’m pretty sure I saw on home video. And then I think we rented Mad Max after the fact? Yet all I remember is dust and cars and angry Australians. I definitely didn’t see Bed, Bath & Beyond Thunderdome. Tina Turner in a bloated unnecessary action sequel? No thanks, said teenage me. (Though I have enjoyed saying, “Whoa, that is totally beyond Thunderdome!” many, many times in the subsequent decades.)

Flash-forward 30 years, and I had no idea what to expect from a new Mad Max movie. No Mel Gibson; I guess he’s in sensitivity training or something. I did love a recent Letterman top-10 entry on why Max is so mad: “Instead of Fury Road, GPS sent him to Fury Lane.”

Well, I did go to see the new installment, I paid the 3-D surcharge, and… I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. It is bravura filmmaking! And as I watched it, I thought, “This makes Avengers: Age of Ultron look like a real piece of shit.”

Big kudos to 70-year-old George Miller, the co-writer/director behind all the Mad Max films. With the breathless pace of this movie in the early-going, you might guess it was the work of a young, edgy auteur. But the old dog Miller has some new tricks. We’re right there in the middle of the action, and it’s a blast. Dark and claustrophobic one second, bright and wide-open the next.

Miller strips everything down to the basics: Cars, girls, guns, and rock ‘n roll. Autos are completely fetishized in this post-apocalyptic landscape. The mean old ruler sends his minions across the desert on a supply run, for gas and bullets. Except the War Rig driver, Charlize Theron, has other ideas. She’s made off with the pretty young things that the bad guy wants to impregnate. Theron’s plan: Drive off-course and get them to safety at the magical “Green Place” on the other side of the desert. (Paging Mr. Gatsby!) Charlize has one arm, a head shaved like Sinéad, and nothing compares to her. She may not be as kickass as Ripley in Aliens but Theron’s still tough and smart with a pleasing hint of vulnerability.

Wait a dust-covered minute!! Where’s Max?? The skinny minions sent to track down Charlize are using robust Max as a “blood bag.” I have zero idea what this means, or why he’s seemingly the only person being used in this manner, strapped to the front of the car, but it’s kind of cool so whatever. (On another vehicle, there’s a heavy-metal guitarist on a stage in front, providing much of our soundtrack.)

Spoiler alert: Max escapes and joins forces with Charlize Theron.

Max is played by Tom Hardy, who was Bane in that overblown Batman movie. Once again he’s got a metal thing over his mouth and grumbles incoherently. Typecasting alert! But as the movie progresses and Max gets a wee bit less mad, Hardy gets to do some actual acting and he’s pretty solid.

The action sequences are great, the cinematography is frequently stunning (the 3-D is actually worth it, with a great overall sense of depth and some cool jump-at-you elements), and the minor characters all have Australian accents. Plus, whatever plot there is includes a generous helping of girl power, not often seen in movies like this. Actually, there aren’t a lot of movies like this, and that may be its top selling point. Fury Road never feels like paint-by-the-numbers Hollywood garbage. George Miller has his own screwy Antipodean vision and he realizes it in a big way. You’ll have fun, fun, fun till Maddy puts the War Rig away.