Mad Max: Fury Road (***½)
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron,
Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz
Seen: May 16th 2015
***½ Out of ****
Mad Max: Fury Road embraces its
particular brand of post-apocalyptic insanity with an intensely hyperactive
glee. Where else would the main villain have in his entourage his own grunge
soundtrack in the form of a truck carrying a huge soundstage with a
chain-and-spring suspended guitarist - who also happens to be the only
character in the movie dressed in red? This is the kind of imagery you’ll be
confronted with in Mad Max Fury Road, front to back and completely in your
face.
I can’t speak for how Mad Max Fury
Road rekindles old Mad Max fans’ feelings or memories though, as this is the
first Mad Max movie I’ve ever seen, but what I can say is that this was a great
action movie that told an energizing and engaging story with little dialogue in
a way that many movies nowadays can’t. It’s also spectacular without being
absolutely eleven levels over the top – I’m looking at you, Furious 7…
I’d say this is one of my favourite
action movies in a long time. The actors seem to seriously be having fun, which
I believe was definitely the case for Nicholas Hoult, playing Nux, who eventually
also gets a beautifully redemptive story arc. Tom Hardy is great and
understated as Max, who is only introduced by name around the halfway mark, if
not later. He does quite a lot of his work with only facial expressions, as his
mouth is barred for a large part of the movie, but yet in his silence he
screams as apocalyptic action erupts around him. Charlize Theron blazes through
the movie as Imperator Furiousa, and with Tom Hardy she leads one of the
strongest female casts since close on forever – Mad Max Fury Road is not scared
of giving the ladies a hard time or letting them dish out the hard times.
Mad Max Fury Road will not be for
everyone, but once you decide to go for it, it will definitely knock your socks
off. This is post-apocalyptic glee wrapped up in sombre earthy hues with rare splashes
of colour and driven by strong performances from all involved, and it was great
fun.
Comments