Furiosa is the Road Warrior

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Rebooting the pumped-up and hallucinatory apocalyptic power of the "Mad Max" films of thirty years ago might seem like a risky venture, especially when Mel Gibson is no longer on board as the one and only Road Warrior. Still, there is good news for Mad Max fans because "Fury Road" is a deranged, even more apocalyptic and thunderously emotional film in the series that can stand on its own two dirty, muddy feet as the finest action film in many years. It easily outclasses "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" and comes very, very close to the solemnity of the masterful "The Road Warrior."

The chameleonic actor Tom Hardy is Max, the former cop who became a dust bowl avenger of a post-nuclear apocalyptic era where everyone is a scavenger for gas and water. In this story, he is held prisoner by the War Boys, an army of bald, pale-faced, sickly men who are led by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, formerly Toecutter in the original "Mad Max" film from 1979), a figure of torment who needs an elaborate breathing apparatus just to speak to the poor people of the desert. Joe even tells the crowd of what appears to be thousands that if they want water, they better not get addicted to it - then he releases the levers and gives them what they want in desperation albeit in short triple gallon spurts. Meanwhile, one-armed Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron - simply amazing) is sent to acquire gas but then decides to veer off-course - her plan is to go to the Green Place, her home, along with five other women impregnated by Joe. Joe is mad as hell and wants his women and their babies. Furiosa is no less angry herself, and Max simply tags along.

 Director George Miller (who helmed the first three "Mad Max" films) doesn't disappoint in terms of white-knuckled action scenes that astound and terrify at the same time. The movie doesn't just add chases on the road - you are immersed in them and feel we are riding along with everyone else at breakneck speeds. I saw the film in 3-D and I can say that it enhances the experience of the thrill of the chase and the debris of broken vehicles thrust in your face. Helping to make the chases fresh, one vehicle carries drummers and a guitarist whose own guitar shoots flames! But Miller has deeper issues than enthralling the audience with the visceral - he never forgets to stay close to the characters so we can feel we are in a soulful action movie, not in the latest cartoonish gimmicks of a "Fast and Furious" sequel. Furiosa is our female-empowered Road Warrior with great aim and even greater driving skills at handling a rig the size of two eighteen wheelers (at one point, Max gives her the gun to shoot to kill the imposing marauders in the distance). Furiosa also wishes for redemption, to get away from a blood-soaked desert world where sand is all there is between her and her weaponry. She is strong, tough, resilient and carries a vulnerable side particularly with her prosthetic arm. She is a lone warrior on a mission to rediscover her humanity. It is an awe-inspiring breakthrough for Theron, proving her worth as the real hero of the movie.


If there is one glaring though hardly destructive flaw in "Mad Max: Fury Road," it is the casting of Tom Hardy as Mad Max. His character is virtually a catatonic creation who wears a muzzle for a while before being rescued by Furiosa and reluctantly engaging in battle. Hardy is not a bad choice to play Max but not the most fitting - he speaks more in the opening narration than in the entirety of the film. Missing in action is the charismatic, fiery presence of Mel Gibson who played Max as someone who had seen it all and showed little fear. Hardy's Max is a mute and somewhat expressionless Road Warrior and is given little to do besides being Furiosa's second banana. Males have been up in arms over this, that is Furiosa being practically the main lead in the movie, but I can't quibble - women don't get stalwart roles like this in the silver screen often. As I said, Hardy might be catatonic...but he is not boring.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" is a beautifully dusty, roughly hewn and inspired action movie and it is an overpowering assault on the senses. The feeling of desperation and despair in this vast wasteland is felt in every frame. Every flying bullet, spear, arrow and fiery projectile is felt - when people die, we feel the loss and the impact. What it also conveys is that there is still some measure of hope and solace from greedy dictators who use humans as cattle to feed and manipulate. The odd thing about this "Mad Max" film is that gas and water are not the necessities this time (though they are sorely needed) - breeding healthy human babies with no deformities is the hope from the enemy. Furiosa just wants solace. Max wants to go his own way. And we are caught in the middle of one of the most imaginative action films in history.