Just wow

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2016)

I'm sort of a fan of the old Mad Max saga. Those movies introduced me to a "road movie" genre of sorts, where films are centered around driving, ranging from Dead End to, even, Waterworld (I thought of that bad-mouthed movie as a sort of Mad Max with water instead of wastelands). I wasn't expecting much of Fury Road, to be honest. As the vast majority of sequels and re-makes nowadays, I thought it was going to be a hyped, clichéd attempt to revive the franchise. Boy, was I wrong.
Mad Max Fury Road delivers the whole experience of the old saga, plus more. Let me start by saying that this new movie borrows A LOT from the old ones, from camera angles, to paraphernalia, even a bit of the fast-forward motion used in the old movies!! I checked afterwards and, to my surprise and delight, Fury Road creators are the same as the old Mad Max movies, so that explains a lot. I believe this new movie could easily pass for one of the old ones, minus that little extra CGI, of course. I'm glad they didn't try to add new, more modern stuff to the Mad Max universe.
Oh, and this is not a sequel, but some sort of re-make. It is another vision of the same theme. Personally, I think it'd be better to watch the old movies to get a better understanding of the reality presented to us in Fury Road. Those flashback/hallucinations would also make more sense.
The first 30 minutes of the movie are PURE NON-STOP ACTION, without cheesy or "cool" dialogue added, something that ruins most films nowadays. In fact, there's very, very, very little talking (throughout the whole movie), something that stays intact from the old days, as well; and that I sincerely appreciate. But, hold on, the action still continues after that marvelous beginning! When the pace slows down a little (just a little), it's only to gather momentum! It's hard to surpass that first part of the movie, OK, although it's still great.
The added CGI creates the perfect extra for that post-apocalyptic future, although it's mostly old stunts and little CGI (I think!), which is also a bonus, for me, in this industry overcrowded by cheap and over-expensive computer generated graphics.
The cast, although not great for the main characters, is acceptable. I'm not a big fan of Tom "one expression" Hardy or Theron. I'd actually have preferred Max to keep the "mask" longer, it gave him more of a "Mad" air. It reminded me of the sensation I got from seeing the last installment of Judge Dredd, where leaving the helmet on all the time supports the character and makes us focus more in what's going on, at the same time, instead of attracting unwanted attention to poor acting in the form of shallow facial expressions.
I found the mythology in this new movie very appealing. I'm glad they stayed away from Christian themes.
Allow me to also indicate that I hate movies like fast and the furious or whatever those are called. Please, in case anyone relates Mad Max to that trash, let me tell you that it's nothing of sorts; Mad Max uses the vehicles as a means to deliver a story of survival in a dystopia, contrary to the other movies where the means are the same as the end. This is not a movie about "tuning", saying clichéd "cool" one lines or any of such non-sense. This is a movie about survival. No matter how absurd it might seem, or actually be! You have to center in the action and forget about the rest, while still keeping it in the background as a reminder of what you are watching. Complicated? Well, it's just not about car racing and being cool, and let's leave it at that.
I read they are going to make a sequel to Fury Road. I certainly hope they can stay in the same road (no pun intended), no need to mess up an excellent comeback.
It's great to find a movie like this in this present reality of bad, over-hyped creations. More creators should go back to their origins and deliver shows like this. The only thing they could have added to make it more like the old movies would be Mel Gibson. I'm afraid that would have made Max too Mad, though.