Justice to the original Road Warrior, in part

Rating: 6/10 (5 September 2015)

The original Road Warrior, Mad Max Part 2, is well known in movie circles, but I am still amazed at how many people do not know of its existence let alone having seen it. The first movie of the series is even less well known, but it is also a better story. Beyond Thunderdome is an average conclusion to the Mel Gibson trilogy of Mad Max, and rightly ended as an attempt at making money. Yet, such is the cultishness of the trilogy, that this new version, Fury Road, was made both for those of us who know the original, and for those that have no experience.
The original Road Warrior was so good because it took all car chases, make them bigger, put a purpose to them, and centered the movie around them. There was real plot involved, too, though nothing like the movie Gibson later directed for his Oscar. The post-Apocalyptic setting of the Road Warrior was also unique, and it all combined to make a wonderful movie that probably is slightly above the level of cult classic. It was never even in any awards discussion, and Fury Road is also like that, but both are very entertaining (the two movies were meant for action, not drama), though Fury Road is more action driven and has a lesser plot when compared to Road Warrior.
Why Miller decided to remake the movie Is a mystery, though money is probably a motivator. That said, he had a lot to live up to. And he mostly succeeded. The major sticking point in this movie would be the ability to match the car chases which were both outlandish and interesting in the Road Warrior. As in the original, they were over the top, but not in a way that was cartoonish. And the uniqueness of the cars was quite good, too, with very little mimicry in the remake. (Though that giant, driving guitar speaker was stupid.) And along the way, there were quite a few small homages to the original series which were clearly meant for fans of the original.
Performance wise, it really amounted to Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and a group of models. My first introduction to Hardy was with Inception, and since then he has quite a few good roles (in another review, I espoused his performance in The Drop). Here, like Gibson in the Road Warrior, the script is not dynamic, but he takes what he was given and runs with it. Like Gibson in the Road Warrior, Hardy plays the role with the same persona and with the same presence. This time, though, Max has a co-star, this being the well-known Charlize Theron. It has been interesting to see her change from the pretty girl roles to ones with more grit. This certainly is that, and anybody who has really paid attention to her career would probably not be surprised to see her with a sheered head for this role. And just like Hardy's part, she needed to have a similar persona and presence, to which she does well. The two really do well playing off each other given the script's limitations.
Juxtaposed to that grit is the quintuplet of models that is supposed to make up this feminist version of the Road Warrior. While none of them are as dynamic in screen persona as Hardy or Theron, they each do well on their own, and as a group, and none of them are really out of place. They also each have a grittiness that grows as the movie progresses that is a nice counter to their typical model life. Credit to this last bit must go to Miller who was able to make these models both visually beautiful and dirty.
Overall, this is a good movie, and exciting, though far from Oscar worthy. I do recommend watching the original trilogy first, but it is hardly necessary. Though the movie is R rated, none of the violence is graphic, there is only a single profane word, and no nudity just to have a naked body (there is some, but it is purposed and not graphic). I would even be comfortable considering this as a PG13 movie, though I understand why it was rated R.
Recommended, probably not late at night as the energy level is quite high. And if watching with kids, probably a good idea to let them do something afterwards. Also, this movie is for fun, not seriousness.