It's a crazy wasteland in "Mad Max: Fury Road"
Back in the late-70s and early-80s, Australian filmmaker George Miller had to make most out of a humble budget to be able to make "Mad Max" (1979) and "Mad Max: The Road Warrior" (1981), which starred a very young and pre-Hollywood Mel Gibson, the thrilling post-apocalyptic cult films that they are. Now that, in this day and age, Miller had in hand a million-dollar budget, a high-end technology and established A-list stars like Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron to make "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015, Australia, 120 mins), the fourth film in the series (about three decades after "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome"), he would just make sure that this one would never fail to leave a long-lasting impression. And boy how it does! By any means, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is my first best and favorite Hollywood action film for this year (sorry, James Wan's "Fast & Furious 7" might be immensely entertaining, but it is certainly not the best).
It is hard to imagine how this latest installment (up till now, it is not exactly clear if it is a reboot, a sequel or a prequel, but it doesn't matter anymore) would turn out to be had it been given to another director. As it is, no other than Miller himself would be better suited to bring "Mad Max" back on the road for contemporary audiences. As what the trailer is saying, he is the "original mastermind" of the film series, so it is just proper that he be the one to bring it back to life. Besides, "Mad Max: Fury Road" was being conceptualized and worked on by Miller for many years already (during those times that he made "Lorenzo's Oil", "Babe: Pig in the City" and "Happy Feet"). Thus, he knows more than anyone else how to "re-introduce" his creation to us. And the result is a world that is totally broke and bonkers, with an infernal energy that seeps from all corners, an entirely mind-blowing universe that we rarely see in Hollywood action movies nowadays.
While it is not an absolute requirement, I think it would still be best if one is able to see beforehand the first "Mad Max", as it is not entirely explained in "Mad Max: Fury Road" what drove lonesome drifter Max Rockatansky (played this time by Hardy) to "madness", except by way of some opaque delusions (I think purposely-done so by writers Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris). In that way, one is somehow able to make sense of the iconic character's psycho-emotional state, which is made all the more harder to pierce through given Hardy's taciturn, enigmatic and deadpan portrayal of the character which, on the other hand, isn't an unwelcome thing after all. As a counterpoint to such a mysterious portrayal is the heartbreaking feral energy provided by Theron to the film's new character, Imperator Furiosa, whose single-handed act of rebellion against the devilish post-apocalyptic wasteland despot Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who was the main villain in the first "Mad Max") actually serves as the film's main plot drive. This time around, it is not just Hardy's Mad Max that fuels the film's anarchic world, but Theron's Furiosa as well. It has been reported that Miller's follow-up to "Fury Road" (in case this one turns out to be successful, which can be hardly doubted now) would be called "Mad Max: Furiosa". If that would provide an origin story to the ferocious heroine, then I can't definitely wait for that one already.
Given such two potent lead characters, alongside a multitude of fiendish, deranged and out-of-this-world villains (flame-throwing electric-guitar player, anyone?), the film's brilliantly-orchestrated action sequences, one of the best seen in recent cinema, become all the more invigorating and pulse-pounding. One can just feel all the heat, smoke, fire and dust bursting off from the big screen. Miller has been reported as saying that "Mad Max: Fury Road" is "one long road chase sequence filmed in chronological order", rather than in jagged sequences depending on the actors' availability and other related factors. If so, then the film is indeed one hell of a crazy ride. Along with last year's "The Raid 2: Retaliation", "Mad Max: Fury Road" definitely sets a high bar in terms of orchestrating truly-engaging action set-pieces, instead of coming up with just some vacuous and tiring crash-and-bang. The film's action pieces are even a visual delight given the breathtaking cinematographic work of John Seale (the Oscar-winning cinematographer of "The English Patient"), lending the vast, anarchic wasteland such hues of burning orange during daytime and ethereal blue during nighttime. If Roger Deakins did magic for "Skyfall", then Seale did the same for "Mad Max: Fury Road". And shouldn't it also be mentioned that there's a real sense of danger in the film's death-defying stunts as all those poor creatures being thrown away, flying off or bouncing forth in the midst of explosions are not CGI, but rather real stuntmen? For the sake of verisimilitude, Miller would indeed go to such crazy lengths. And I thought it was only Werner Herzog who had done nothing short of a lunacy with that huge steamboat in "Fitzcarraldo".
It often happens that a film is only as good as its trailer, most specially with a Hollywood movie. Since seeing for the first time "Mad Max: Fury Road"'s excellent trailer back in January (the film showing then was Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper"), I immediately had the gut-feel that this film was something to wait for. And when the time finally came, I was not disappointed: the film delivered in spades and aces everything that has been promised in the trailer. The acting, story, cinematography, production design, sound and action - just everything! It has certainly become a lovely day.
It is hard to imagine how this latest installment (up till now, it is not exactly clear if it is a reboot, a sequel or a prequel, but it doesn't matter anymore) would turn out to be had it been given to another director. As it is, no other than Miller himself would be better suited to bring "Mad Max" back on the road for contemporary audiences. As what the trailer is saying, he is the "original mastermind" of the film series, so it is just proper that he be the one to bring it back to life. Besides, "Mad Max: Fury Road" was being conceptualized and worked on by Miller for many years already (during those times that he made "Lorenzo's Oil", "Babe: Pig in the City" and "Happy Feet"). Thus, he knows more than anyone else how to "re-introduce" his creation to us. And the result is a world that is totally broke and bonkers, with an infernal energy that seeps from all corners, an entirely mind-blowing universe that we rarely see in Hollywood action movies nowadays.
While it is not an absolute requirement, I think it would still be best if one is able to see beforehand the first "Mad Max", as it is not entirely explained in "Mad Max: Fury Road" what drove lonesome drifter Max Rockatansky (played this time by Hardy) to "madness", except by way of some opaque delusions (I think purposely-done so by writers Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris). In that way, one is somehow able to make sense of the iconic character's psycho-emotional state, which is made all the more harder to pierce through given Hardy's taciturn, enigmatic and deadpan portrayal of the character which, on the other hand, isn't an unwelcome thing after all. As a counterpoint to such a mysterious portrayal is the heartbreaking feral energy provided by Theron to the film's new character, Imperator Furiosa, whose single-handed act of rebellion against the devilish post-apocalyptic wasteland despot Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who was the main villain in the first "Mad Max") actually serves as the film's main plot drive. This time around, it is not just Hardy's Mad Max that fuels the film's anarchic world, but Theron's Furiosa as well. It has been reported that Miller's follow-up to "Fury Road" (in case this one turns out to be successful, which can be hardly doubted now) would be called "Mad Max: Furiosa". If that would provide an origin story to the ferocious heroine, then I can't definitely wait for that one already.
Given such two potent lead characters, alongside a multitude of fiendish, deranged and out-of-this-world villains (flame-throwing electric-guitar player, anyone?), the film's brilliantly-orchestrated action sequences, one of the best seen in recent cinema, become all the more invigorating and pulse-pounding. One can just feel all the heat, smoke, fire and dust bursting off from the big screen. Miller has been reported as saying that "Mad Max: Fury Road" is "one long road chase sequence filmed in chronological order", rather than in jagged sequences depending on the actors' availability and other related factors. If so, then the film is indeed one hell of a crazy ride. Along with last year's "The Raid 2: Retaliation", "Mad Max: Fury Road" definitely sets a high bar in terms of orchestrating truly-engaging action set-pieces, instead of coming up with just some vacuous and tiring crash-and-bang. The film's action pieces are even a visual delight given the breathtaking cinematographic work of John Seale (the Oscar-winning cinematographer of "The English Patient"), lending the vast, anarchic wasteland such hues of burning orange during daytime and ethereal blue during nighttime. If Roger Deakins did magic for "Skyfall", then Seale did the same for "Mad Max: Fury Road". And shouldn't it also be mentioned that there's a real sense of danger in the film's death-defying stunts as all those poor creatures being thrown away, flying off or bouncing forth in the midst of explosions are not CGI, but rather real stuntmen? For the sake of verisimilitude, Miller would indeed go to such crazy lengths. And I thought it was only Werner Herzog who had done nothing short of a lunacy with that huge steamboat in "Fitzcarraldo".
It often happens that a film is only as good as its trailer, most specially with a Hollywood movie. Since seeing for the first time "Mad Max: Fury Road"'s excellent trailer back in January (the film showing then was Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper"), I immediately had the gut-feel that this film was something to wait for. And when the time finally came, I was not disappointed: the film delivered in spades and aces everything that has been promised in the trailer. The acting, story, cinematography, production design, sound and action - just everything! It has certainly become a lovely day.
- Film verdict: Excellent
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| Tom Hardy as the taciturn and mysterious lonesome drifter "Mad" Max Rockatansky in George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road". |
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