It wasn’t until recently I watched the Mad Max trilogy starring Mel Gibson for my first time. With the exception being Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome I highly enjoyed the films, so I was even more excited to see Mad Max Fury Road. Boy was I not disappointed. The movie was action packed from start to finish and I spent more than half of the film smiling because of how fun it was.
Fans of the original trilogy will have much to like about Mad Max Fury Road, mostly those in particular who enjoyed 1981s Road Warrior. Fury Road rivals Road Warrior to be the best film in the franchise.
Tom Hardy takes over from Mel Gibson as the title character and turned out to be one of the best things about the film. Hardy shines as Max in a world gone mad in the apocalypse. Alongside Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron plays Imperator Furiosa.
Even though the movie is titled Mad Max, Theron’s Furiosa is the main character. Hardy’s Max takes a supporting role but even then Hardy does have a lot of screen time. Charlize Theron is strong and holds very well on her own. Furiosa is a leader of sorts. The villain Immorten Joe is played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the villain Toecutter in the first film. Furiosa stole something from Immorten Joe, which drives him to chase her down the Fury Road which is riddled with bandits and other ilk. Immorten Joe doesn’t have a lot of screen time but when he does, he is menacing.
There is a ton of action to enjoy, from huge car chases and explosions. Fury Road never seems to let up even with the small breaks of action have at least something big going on. The action helps with the world building of Mad Max, one of the best parts of the film. There are hints of a wider story to what happened in the world to cause it to be a wasteland. Even the ways the cars look, the factions that drive it, each have their own story. It is rare to get so deep a story, especially in the action.
The soundtrack compliments the action. It’s a mixture of classical to original music. Possibly one of the better scores one will hear in an action film.
Even with not much can be said about Mad Max Fury Road, it is one of those films you need to experience. It revitalizes a franchise thought long gone and it rivals Mad Max Raod Warrior to be the best in the franchise. Fans will surely enjoy it and new people have a stepping stone to start watching the franchise. Don’t sweat it if you haven’t seen any of the other films, there is no need. It even shows that George Miller can outshine other directors a lot younger than he.
In the end, what a movie. Oh what a lovely movie.
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