http://thisisinfamous.com/mad-max-fury- ... ly-review/MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Gets An Early Spy Review
Aug 04, 2014 Billy Donnelly
Admittedly, I went into the screening for FURY ROAD with really high expectations. I had tried my very best not to (and I almost went in clean), but that damn Comic-Con footage has just been replaying in my mind ever since I first saw it. Chances are you saw it too, bearing witness to what looked like Miller really returning back to the MAD MAX universe with a vengeance: distinctive tribal characters chasing after each other in refitted cars with incredibly choreographed action.
And, after I sat in on the screening Wednesday night and filled out the comment card I was handed, I realized that we had that. And, despite all of the unfinished work (particularly narrative-wise in the first act) that has yet to be completed in preparation for its release next May, I realize that I had gotten that and THEN some. Because if this workprint is any indication, it’s very clear that this is ABSOLUTELY the movie that George Miller has wanted to make for so long, and he got everyone to buy whole-hog into the MAD MAX universe. The acting is great, the action remains amazing (including an ending sequence that’s just as good as the third act in THE ROAD WARRIOR), and best of all, it’s consistent with Miller’s vision that he created in the original trilogy. It’s bleak, dark, and incredibly gritty, but just like Max Rockatansky himself, there’s an impenetrable humanity to it that resonates throughout it.
It’s hard to outline the story because the first act was almost completely piecemeal with a lot of stuff missing, but the gist of it is that Max (Tom Hardy) is taken prisoner by the elderly (but evil) Immortan Joe so that he can be harvested and used as a “blood bag” for his sickly band of mutants that do his bidding. Immortan Joe is a tyrannical beast, lording over hundreds of subjects and granting them only a small portion of his considerable water supply. One of the sickly mutants, Nux (Nicholas Hoult), is preparing for a mission led by the fearsome imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to siphon gas from a local town. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Furiosa is using the mission as a cover to smuggle Immortan Joe’s beautiful set of breeders (among them Zoe Kravitz and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) and take them elsewhere. Eventually, the film turns into a race as Mad, Furiosa, and their crew attempt to outrun the many tribes after them as they try to liberate everyone from the iron fist of the Immortan.
I could tell you more about the plot, but I’m fairly confident that most of this won’t change and I don’t want to spoil any key points for you. The storyline is pretty bare-bones for the most part and doesn’t, as such, doesn’t really stand out from the first three films in that regard. But Miller does make some pretty bold choices with his characters in the second act (which will remain unspoiled) that I genuinely wasn’t expecting and I hope that they remain in the final cut. But the story moves at a good clip and there wasn’t really any point where things lagged or didn’t make sense. There’s one continual plot device meant to examine Max’s guilt with losing his family, but while the first MAD MAX movie dealt with it bluntly and unflinchingly, this time around it feels cliched and awkward whenever it’s addressed. But aside from that, I couldn’t find that much wrong with the story (other than the glaring errors in the first act that I mentioned earlier).
But the two things that really make this a MAD MAX movie are the spectacular action sequences and the performances from all of the leads. It felt like Miller tried to make an arc in terms of the chase sequences, and while they’re all good, there’s definitely a sense of escalation and the entire film culminates in an action sequences that is one of the best in the series, with very little CGI to go around at all. The technology and weapons utilized during the sequences (everything from exploding spears to these sort of ultra-smart buzz saws meant to take out tires) don’t really resemble anything we’ve seen in a MAD MAX movie before, but still feel like an organic growth from the earlier films.
Also, while some other people in the audience didn’t agree with me, I totally bought into Tom Hardy as Max. He only says maybe a handful of sentences throughout the film, but the way he reacts to the situations around him and retains this sort of guarded hostility through most of it is VERY evocative of the Mel Gibson “Max” that we’ve seen before. Still, Charlize Theron totally steals the film for me. At first, she looks totally hardened and badass (and she is), but when the chips are down and her vulnerable side comes out, she totally owns it. When you consider that she had to work with an unwieldy prosthesis for the film, it makes her performance that much more remarkable. The rest of the cast is solid, but the cast Miller went with (many of whom are physically handicapped) blend seamlessly into the universe and help create a more immersive experience as a result.
So… yeah. First impressions are that we’re in for a really great ride when it’s finished. Miller made a concerted effort to create a balanced film that can stand alone on its own and will more than satisfy fans of the series. I can’t wait to see how they re-tool it and to see how it looks when the first act is in one whole piece, but as it stands, it looks like an early cut to a very, VERY good ride.
Sounds like the flashback scenes still aren't working. Some at the April screening were complaining about them as well. I wonder if its fixable. This viewer bought into Hardy as Max but noted that other audience members didn't. Like blackmocco said, some will like him and some wont. Kind of a letdown that this Max is getting a mixed reception, but it is what it is.
