Maximum Max

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2015)

Wow! Non-stop action that starts, accelerates, and never stops. "Mad Max, Fury Road" is not for the faint hearted or those looking for a cerebral film experience, but definitely for action seekers who still want a movie with intelligence and a sense of style. Although the fourth screen appearance of Mad Max and the first without Mel Gibson, director George Miller, who helmed all four Mad Max movies, ups the action quotient this time out. As before, the plot is irrelevant, but serves as a vehicle for violent chases and clashes between a savage group who hold survivors of an apocalypse hostage for water and a small band of women fleeing sexual enslavement. Escaping his own imprisonment, Max joins the women, headed by the one-armed Furiosa, in their flight to a green area, where Furiosa grew up.
Tom Hardy is a solid Max and dispels any nostalgia for Gibson; tough, laconic, yet human, Hardy recreates Max in an updated image. Refreshing in an action movie, the plot revolves around women, and Imperator Furiosa is Max's equal, both physically and intellectually. With head shaved and her usually porcelain complexion soiled, Charlize Theron is captivating and mesmerizing as Furiosa, a leader in every respect; she holds the eye in every scene in which she appears. Furiosa is a dimensional action character with depth and a past. The vast supporting cast of colorful characters with shaved heads, powdered torsos, and deformed bodies are all professional to outstanding, with a special mention for Nicholas Hoult as Nux, whose loyalties shift over time.
The music by Junkie XL is pulse-pounding, to use a clichéd term, and enhances and punctuates the action. John Seale's brilliant cinematography of Namibian deserts creates an otherworldly apocalyptic universe, and the use of 3D is arguably the most effective yet; not only do objects fly from the screen, but rifles aim into the audience, and armored vehicles sail overhead from behind. The kinetic editing by Margaret Sixel screams for an Oscar and creates a kaleidoscopic montage of images that is literally eye popping, to use another tired, but appropriate phrase. The art directors had a field day and also scream for Oscars; the vehicles are mobile sculptures assembled from old VW Beetles, rusted oil tankers, and vintage finned sedans; a heavy metal rocker perches in front of a fantasy truck, while enormous audio speakers blare the beats of a half dozen drummers riding in the back. Bandits strapped atop long flexible rods dangle over the fleeing vehicles to snatch the escaping women from the truck cabs. Skeletal beings with dark flapping cloaks walk across an eerie landscape on stilts. A dictatorial ruler flashes an evil grin with a leering mask of huge animal teeth. Skulls abound everywhere.
"Mad Max, Fury Road" may have been conceived for action junkies, but the creative art direction, impressive special effects, stunning landscapes, a newly embodied Max, and, above all, a riveting turn by Charlize Theron as arguably the best female action character yet, broaden the film's appeal. Wow! The best of the Mad Max series. A movie to be seen in theaters, because it will never have the same impact on a small home screen. Highly recommended.