Jack made some compelling arguments against the latest Mad Max film in his full review. As I enjoyed it a fair bit more, I thought I'd give some of my opinions.
A harsh desert landscape, a worn-out interceptor and a familiar man with a different face. The fourth instalment in the Mad Max series, Fury Road, has taken thirty years to get here, and it doesn't mess about. This barren and hostile world is unfettered, ferocious; fuelled by blood and a metric butt-tonne of petrol. The plot is simple, just like the first two, and every single frame is utterly beautiful. I've struggled through many modern action flicks, and I despise the Michael Bay 'splosion-fest model of filmmaking so everything here should be wrong. But it's oh so right.
Fury Road has everything that I look for in contemporary action: isolated settings, eccentric characters and a unique style of filmmaking that only comes around once in a blue moon. Miller harks back to a sorely missed era of filmmaking by utilising primarily practical effects, composited together with minimal CGI to create some visually incredible stunts. Take a look at this glorious B-Roll footage to see what I mean. Yes some of the explosions and crashes are ridiculous, and that definitely changes the level of realism that may be expected from the previous films, but at the same time this is still very much a Mad Max film. Other old-school effects like speed ramping to create the illusion of extreme motion, really do make this feel like a good old 80s action flick.
I do find it a bit sad that Max takes a step back in this film, but I actually thought that Imperator Furiosa was a well fleshed-out, very likable character and really didn't mind that she took the centre stage, along with her equally badass War Rig. The minimal plot was easy enough to follow, without too much exposition, and the blend of the rolling story with impeccably choreographed visual sequences make Fury Road almost operatic in design. It's a highly visual story and when done well, that is an undeniably powerful form of movie making.
Mad Max: Fury Road gave me a slap in the face more powerful than the strongest caffeinated drink (or other...substances...) and I was fixated from beginning to end. It's action-meets-arthouse and everything in between, and easily the best film of the year thus far. I want to hug George Miller for giving this series another shot...but I'd probably get arrested.
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