"Feels like Hope"

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2015)

"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on a Fury Road" - Nux Mad Max: Fury Road drove into theaters with furious anticipation due to excellent reviews that we have not seen from a Blockbuster movie in a long while. A mixture of sadly hearing (I like going into movies with no knowledge of critically feedback) about those stellar reviews before my viewing of this film and my favorite actor Tom Hardy playing Max, my excitement for this film was a bit overwhelming. Could it live up to the hype? "My name is Max. My world is reduced to a single instinct: Survive. As the world fell it was hard to know who was more crazy. Me... Or everyone else." This is the spine tingling start to MAD MAX: FURY ROAD narrated by Max (Tom Hardy). In a world ran mad, by the mad, due to a reduction in the worlds oil the thought on the minds of everyone is simple...survive! In a beautifully shot opening, which is consistent throughout the movie, Max is chased down by cult leader King Immortan Joe's (Hugh Keays-Byrne) men and imprisoned in there citadel. He is used as a blood donor for half-life war crazed Nux (Nicholas Hoult) who wants to die historic on a Fury Road. While Max is locked up Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is sanctioned to lead a gas run with a convoy towards Gas Town. On the road to Gas Town Furiosa takes a detour and Immortan Joe discovers that his five wives are out of there chambers and Furiosa sets the road she is traveling on a furious course. The King in a desperate anger leads a historically wild and large war party to retrieve his "property". Nux, wanting to make a name for himself and to impress the immortal, sets out to lead the "rescue" with Max chained to himself so he can continue to receive his blood which gives him strength. The first of many absolutely breathtaking action scenes ensues between Furiosa's rig and Joe's army in a sand storm with tornado's and all sorts of "lovely" natural elements. Nux drags Max into this mad sandstorm in pursuit of Furiosa's rig and declares it all as "a lovely day". Lovely...this is maybe not the best word to describe the surrounding events for Max, but for the viewer...one of the straight up coolest and jaw-dropping scenes ever filmed. The intensity captured and maintained throughout the movie is sheer brilliance displayed by director George Miller. The whole film in its most simplistic form is just one big chase scene, but the execution and characters make this film so much more. The movie throws you right into the story like so few successful movies have, but the acting gives these characters such depth. Hardy, Hoult and most of all Theron are so effective in a movie that is more about the ground breaking stunts and beautifully sadistic film making. Hardy, like in many films doesn't talk very much for a main character but gives a fully expected performance marked by controlled brilliance. Hoult, as Nux gives energy and surprising heart to Mad Max: Fury Road in his quest for hope. The theme of hope is rooted in this film, Nux's hope began in an attempt to please cult leader Joe in battle and ended in a quest to help those he was originally out to kill. Theron as Furiosa was a gem and gave a strong women character that at times stole the show from the titled character. Passionately ran by redemption, Furiosa fights for those oppressed by this cruel apocalyptic world.
Mad Max: Fury Road "feels like hope" in an action genre fueled by CGI and depthless characters. It is unlike anything seen before and the intensity is jarring and never lets up. George Miller creates action scenes that are truly unique and will leave no one yawning. Hope has arrived not only for the characters in the movie but also for viewers and fans of action films. What a refreshing cinematic experience, not only because of the visceral action scenes but also the depth of the characters and themes. While due to the hype the fourth installment of Mad Max may not of left me fully satisfied, it was pretty dang close even though my expectations were through the roof. If you choose to see Mad Max:Fury Road it will truly be a lovely day for you and hopefully regain your hope in summer blockbusters.
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