Mad Max: Fury Road

            Mad Max is one of those franchise/reboots that manages to surprise its audience. Marvel has cornered the market on competent franchise filmmaking. DC is attempting to follow in Marvel’s footsteps, but by positioning itself as the “serious” comic book movie series—as if all-powerful alien and a billionaire vigilante are somehow too highbrow for humor. As studios invest more and more into serialized filmmaking, the movies themselves become a means to end, rather than an end in themselves. MacGuffins populate the Marvel movies, each one a precisely planned piece of a plot puzzle. In the recent Avengers movie, the mention of the Infinity Stones, presaging Marvel’s Phase Three is more eye rolling than enticing. Tell this story, not the next four (Avengers: Infinity War due out in 2018!). Mad Max: Fury Road, a reboot of the Mel Gibson/George Miller franchise, offers unrelenting entertainment and spectacle. Apart from a brief introduction and interlude, the film is a non-stop chase sequence, brilliantly shot and choreographed.  Unlike many other franchise movies, Miller’s visuals show the audience the story, rather than relying on its characters to tell it.

Even the posters look awesome.

            Miller has presented a gorgeous and colorful post-apocalyptic landscape. Dystopian and post-apocalyptic film fare generally feature muted landscapes and color palettes, immersing the audience in a dark and dreary future. Instead the sun glitters off the desert and convoys of death cars. Relying primarily on practical effects, Miller swings soldiers atop long poles, in and out of the camera’s view, as they rein fire from above. Cars flip over, explode, and barrel relentlessly forward. There’s even a guy playing a gigantic guitar that shoots out flames. Another vehicle carries a squad of drummers, driving home the sense of unrelenting action. In one sequence, a storm envelops the chasing cars. Blinding sands give way to dark blue lightning in a stunning array of color. The film cuts quickly through the action, but never in the incoherent way that characterizes Michael Bay’s recent filmography. There are a few moments of glaringly obvious CGI, but nothing on the scale of other recent blockbusters (I’m looking at you Peter Jackson). Miller uses the desert oasis that bookends the film to visually demonstrate how power works in this future: gigantic wheels and machines bring water from the earth, providing hope for a desperate populace and power to the man who controls it.

The chase is on....

            The film’s plot is straightforward and the dialogue sparse. Characters rarely speak more than a few words and almost never call each other by name. Charlize Theron plays Imperator Furiosa, a soldier in service of Immortan Joe, the deluded and tyrannical leader of a colony of survivors in a post-apocalyptic Australia. Joe yields power through his control of natural resources and has built himself a cult of personality that would make Stalin jealous. His people view him as a God, giver of water and life. The women of his world, Furiosa and a group of five of his wives, see through the façade. They compose and execute an escape plan. As Furiosa escapes with the wives in tow, another of Joe’s soldiers, played by Nicholas Hoult, uses the recently captured Max (Tom Hardy) and his blood to fuel the pursuit. Hardy and Theron are the standouts in the film. With so little dialogue, Miller relies on the ability of this pair of actors to bring their characters to life through their physical performances. Theron’s face conveys her character’s determination and deep psychological scars. Hardy similarly demonstrates Max’s psychological break following his inability to save his family. What follows is a story of escape and redemption told through furious and unremitting action.

Yes, that's a man playing a flaming guitar.

            Mad Max presents fully realized female characters without having to justify them. Their power is ingrained and assumed in this world. Immortan Joe treats his women as property, the film doesn’t. They are Joe’s victims and they’re not going to take it anymore. Miller’s vision doesn’t have room for passive women who need the guidance or leadership of a man. As the film reaches its climax, the final confrontation involves Max, Furiosa, and a gang of women against Joe’s army. There are no speeches reminding the women of their power. They don’t need them. They don’t need to prove themselves to anyone. Miller makes this point by showing the audience these women’s power. Furiosa demonstrates her skills by destroying her enemies. She and Max trade blows and the wheel of their war machine without outshining each other. The other women have their moments as well. highlighted by the female motorcycle gang that helps bring the film to a close. Instead of simply making an argument for female empowerment, Miller clearly demonstrates it through the actions of his characters.

            Through its stunning visual effects and effective lead performances, Miller grabs hold of the viewer and never lets go. He revels in the spectacle of the film and we are all the better for it.