Action Films Will Never Be The Same

Rating: 10/10 (14 May 2015)

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron are two wonderful forces of nature, bringing to life and into a hellish universe two characters who become classics from the beginning. Mel Gibson gave us the first interpretation of the role, but it took revisiting the material and finding a new actor to truly present what Max is all about. Hardy is a jaded creation who exists to survive. He has that hard look, driven, and with all of his priorities set to survival mode. He recognizes that you can't sit still here, and there is no sense in worrying if you want to live.
He finds himself prisoner of a set deviants/mutants that plan on killing him for sport. Max soon finds himself in the middle of a car chase that will eclipse anything else you have seen before. At first, he observes everything around him, as he is on the hood of vehicle which is the stuff nightmares are made of. In the opening scenes, he manages to go through something that could be describe as the place where hell touched Earth, with lighting storms, sand storms, wind storms, and just about anything else that can be thrown at him. He pulls through in what many less ambitious directors would have saved fr the final frames, but in "Fury Road", this is just the beginning, and in the hands of George Miller, a man who is around 70 years old, we get what was just a promise in the previous films.
The universe is fully developed, with just about every hellish detail up on the screen, every element coming together in almost a magical way for not much is spoken to allow a skilled director to extract emotions, reactions, and powerful images from what his camera captures, a much impressive achievement when one considers the amount of spectacular moments throughout the entire film. As I said before, the opening scenes only serve as the launching pad of what will be recognized as many as unbelievable, breathtaking, and utterly satisfying.
In this film, vehicles will burn, crash, tumble, fly, and spit fire continuously, and the drivers are not just ridicule caricatures like those in a recent release. There is power, disgust, hate, hunger, envy, and almost anything else you can think of emanating from everyone on the screen, even the angelic wives/prisoners are not empty shells. One can feel every emotion by letting Miller's sirens seduce and leads into total shock and admiration, not believing that what we have seen is possible. Here CGI doesn't overpower and sterilize the content. Many action films suffer from a mismanagement of resources. Here Miller works with what he knows best, but he still uses CGI to increase the power of what one sees in this movie. Very little looks fake, and nothing is sacrificing to reckless waste of money.
Miller has given us a film that captures the magic of movie-making, the realization of its power. This is the masterpiece many dream of, where nothing and no one is spared. Every penny is showcased one way or another. There are no egos to satisfy, just goals to achieve, and these are accomplished. Miller should, like others before him clean his favorite space at home in order to display whatever type of recognition he seriously deserves. Much has been made of a gimmicks recently. "Birdman" tried to blend the mania of a troubled mind with harsh reality,and it sorely failed. Here is film which entertains, never bores, and certainly is able to mix intelligence, the hells which some beings carry in their souls, and the possibility that a future like Max's might not be that distant. The film is not fantasy, it's the type of science fiction which shows the almost certain possibility of what might be coming.
I never understood why some films had a certainly look, but they lacked vision, charm, or anything remotely intelligent, and the disappointment hurt. No one will walk away from "Fury Road" because Miller respects the audience, understand that unless some is "real" and we are able to somehow relate, the experience will be meaningless. "Fury Road" combines the best of acting and craftsmanship. It's pure, powerful, and it delivers a visceral punch, making the best use of everyone of our senses, giving us an experience that feels fresh and visionary. Miller hasn't copied anyone, instead he has set the bar high for many, and maybe he will be that inspiration that will give many an idea of what it takes to make an almost perfect film, something with much imagination and power, something that is quite remarkable, considering how Hollywood has started cannibalizing its own classics and/or surrendering to the desire to just mass produce movies. Here is a film that proves that it's possible to dream, even if the images are those who will make you wonder if hell is here on Earth.