Mad Max IV: Beyond Pointless

Rating: 5/10 (17 May 2015)

I'm coming here not as a fan of the "original trilogy" but as a fan of the one and only, original "Mad Max" from 1979, the only one that made a real impact, the only one that was filmed with guts and something to say. The installments "II" and "III" had very little in common with the first film, amounting to not much more than 80's extravaganza of bad costumes and poor imagining of the future, and reducing the main character, a man of deep suffering and in quest for retaliation, to some sort of survivalist in a futuristic world.
The trend continues here with this fourth installment. There's even less connections with predecessors and it's a "Mad Max" film in name only. They invoked some (mostly bad) motives from "II" and "III" and upgraded them for modern day, but that's not enough in my view. Obviously, there is no Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy does what he can in his shoes but without the charisma. He, at best, comes across as Russel Crowe impersonating Gibson, and at worst - as a wuss. The character of Max is further reduced from a lone survivalist to a sidekick to Charlize Theron's character and the film should really be called "Furiosa". Then the verdict on its merits wouldn't be this hard. At one point Max utters something to himself in what would best be described as breaking the fourth wall. Truly a bottom for an iconic character. Of other iconic memorabilia - gone is the car, gone is the sawed off shotgun and gone is the Australian scenery. I don't really remember, maybe the savanna was gone in earlier movies already, but here there is really nothing but sand, sand and more sand - of Namibia!
When I think of it, gone is also the connection to this Earthly world altogether. Plot-wise, nothing in the film could make me care for a world that is nothing but a sandy planet, where people don't even need water to survive - it's been presented here more as a sought-after commodity, along with "mother's milk" and blood, rather than a bare necessity. The world that is filled with various creatures, some with only loose semblance to humans. Not much exposition is made to this world and screenwriters rely too heavily on viewer's knowledge of "Mad Max" universe. Some past thermonuclear "skirmishes", as well as oil and water shortages, are mentioned to explain it all, but they amount to nothing but a footnote. The problem is - they were a footnote in previous installments as well.
What remains is the chase. The chase was the basis of the first and the second "Mad Max", and it was what held both films together even if you didn't care about the backdrop. The chase in "Fury Road" is truly and utterly spectacular. It's lavishly produced, it's what the director George Miller does best and it's almost 80 percent live action. It seems that the filmmakers decided to use the whole plot as a mere excuse to cram in as much explosions, car crashes, motorcycle jumps and other stunts as they possibly could and that they took it a little too far. Or way too far. And it's unfortunate. It's pure, relentless, wall-to-wall action, alright, but it never stops. Ever. From the first to the last minute it's chase and fighting, with a couple of breathers chipped in every now and then. It feels like a one long trailer and, instead of lifting the film, the action kills it. After a while, you don't know who's who, what's going on or why - and you find yourself not caring.
The whole impression might best be described in the words of its very director, Miller. He exclaimed that he wanted to give the audience "a circus". And he is absolutely right. It is a circus in both a good and a bad way. It's a non-stop action which at times resembles a long cheesy Meatloaf video, with freaks, fireballs and even a guitarist! It's lavishly produced, beautifully filmed, cheesily acted and as dumb as any recent action flick I can think of. If you like that sort of thing, by all means - go for it! And brace yourselves for sequels! However, to call it "Mad Max" is pointless. The "franchise" was already creatively spent thirty years ago and Max, as everybody knew him, is dead and gone. To paraphrase a character from this film - we have just "witnessed him going to Valhalla". And he's never coming back.