Monday, May 25, 2015

Mad Max: Fury Road

I am not a Mad Max fan. Rather, I was not a Mad Max fan. I saw this film mainly because of the buzz on the internet - if people who call themselves men's rights activists are offended by a film, I probably want to see that film. I'm glad these people are vocally stupid; because of them, I saw a fantastically good action movie.

Most action movies have an ebb and flow - action, then exposition, rinse and repeat. This is not a bad thing. It allows the audience to recuperate between action sequences; to recharge for the next one. Fury Road does not do this. Sure, there are some parts of the movie that are not frenetic action, but this movie is exhausting to watch because it is so big and so on most of the time. And that's a good thing.

The actual premise of the movie is nonsensical. Unlike the Divergent series, however, this doesn't bother me. This is a Mad Max movie - it only sort of takes place in reality. Much of what happens in this film is ludicrous. But it's ludicrously awesome.

Fury Road is a work of mad genius. They actually built and ran all of those cars. That rig actually did have two supercharged engines. Those guys on metronomes are not CG'ed in. The car with the speakers and the flamethrowing guitar? Real (with some pyro enhancement). Amazing.

Ultron is a great action movie. Marvel has a formula for these things, and they do them well. Fury Road isn't like that at all - it's unique, and wild, and it doesn't care what the formulas say. It just wants to knock your teeth in with long, brutal chase sequences.

And while you're having your teeth kicked in, it's true that there is some social commentary. And that's just fine.

Performance: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Production: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Bechdel: Pass (A)
Mako Mori: Pass
What are these?
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