Maybe not the best action film, but it's certainly the most action film.

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road is the last film I expected to be this year's darling of the first half of 2015. Does the original trilogy really have that mainstream fondness? Cult favourites certainly. I've only seen the tedious first half hour of the first which I will finish at some point. I trust Road Warrior is a significant improvement. But since Beyond Thunderdrome, George Miller directed family movies such as the Babe sequel and the Happy Feet pair. He has an Oscar for directing a cute film about dancing penguins. But was the sunstroked chaos of Fury Road swirling in his head the whole time? Nevertheless, despite its long production period, Fury Road is not a film that feels overthought. Waiting out a couple decades of mindless CGI disaster porn, Fury Road is a breath of fresh dusty air with ambitious practical effects taken to a scale not possible in the 1980s. It's commendable for that alone, given it's essentially one long chase scene with little time to breathe. It's an incredible technical feat with its editing and creativity to keep it thrilling.
However, it's very rough around the edges, the curse side of its wild blessing. The first act is overcooked and all over the place, setting up its promises and over-delivering. It's a blur, and with confusing motives, it's difficult to latch onto. However, once we're through the sandstorm and it strips down its dynamics, for one giving its protagonist Max a chance to grunt a word, and reveals its secrets, there's a reason to invest in what it's trying to do. If you want to call it a feminist agenda to expose a collapsing patriarchal hierarchy then fine, but it's very welcome in an otherwise barren genre. The film does something that most films these days have forgotten, letting the hero be a hero. Max is a complete stranger to the story, and while he helps because he must, there's an element of his moral compass in there too. So many films revolve around the protagonist's problems, but a real hero is much less self-involved. It's refreshing to see a classic archetype utilized so well.
Charlize Theron steals the show from Tom Hardy, providing an emotional texture with her glazed over eyes to the film's action that it would otherwise severely lack. However, the world of Mad Max is not an endearing one. The revolting culture of the antagonists is vague and while I'm glad it didn't go into it despite the idiosyncrasies, it's something I can't embrace. Nicolas Hoult is especially awful, never landing a sincere moment, at least not until the second half of the film where he's all walk and no talk. Shame Miller's taste in dialogue is so dreadful. At least his taste in atmosphere is something to behold, though the guitar guy took me out of it every time he was on screen. I'm not sure if I would call Mad Max: Fury Road one of the best action films of the decade, but it's certainly the most action film.
7/10