Movie Review: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Second verse, 
Same as the first

-  I'm Henry The VIII, I Am
   Herman's Hermits (1965)

"Mad Max: Fury Road": B.  Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth film in the Mad Max series, the franchise which boosted Mel Gibson to international star status.  This time, thanks to more than a decade of production postponements,  Mel has given way to Tom Hardy to play the title character, Max Rockatansky.  Getting at least equal time on the screen is Charlize Theron, who takes on the role of Imperator Furiosa.  Furiosa is a kick-butt warrior who more than holds her own against all comers.  When she dukes it out with a male foe, her ability to send him flying with a right uppercut comes as no surprise.

If you were to place plot, acting, cinematography and stunts in order of their importance as attributes of this film, those four categories would be listed exactly inversely.  The plot, such as it is (or isn't), makes little difference.  This is a film where we tip our collective hat in awe of the action sequences, which occur virtually nonstop for two hours against the backdrop of a magnificent, strangely beautiful post-apocalyptic desert.  At times it was hard to decipher whether the movie was shot in color or black and white.  The desert contains sparse vegetation, the sky is almost never blue, and the expansive sands melt into the horizon with a grayish hue.  The film was shot mostly in the southwestern African nation of Namibia.

When the story opens, Max is being held prisoner by a madman, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), who is a tyrant showing little mercy over his water-deprived subjects.  He teases them by releasing a few gallons of water from the mountain storage tanks, then is amused at how they nearly stampede over one another in a vain attempt to fill their buckets before he shuts down the taps.  Meanwhile, he has sent Furiosa on a trip over the desert to retrieve more water and gas from Gas City.  Unbeknownst to Joe, Furiosa has granted refuge to Joe's five "wives," one of whom is preggers.  They are hidden in Furiosa's battle wagon, and naturally, all five are baberahams, as is Furiosa in an athletic/masculine sort of way.  Before she gets half way to Gas City, Furiosa steers her vehicle hard left off course.   Destination: The Green Place, the homeland of the six women.  As soon as Joe gets wind of what's happening, i.e., desertion by Furiosa and her perceived kidnapping of the concubines, the chase is on.  Max, who is fully chained and fitted with an iron face mask, is brought along against his will by Joe as a human blood supply.  Too bad for Max that he's a universal donor!

As one of the initial battles rages, Max escapes and reluctantly joins forces with Furiosa as they continue down Fury Road in the battle wagon, heading for The Green Place.  A little later, one of Joe's soldiers, Nux (Nicholas Hoult), ends up in Furiosa's wagon as well.  Nux is something of a village idiot, not sure whose side he's on.  He is comforted and consoled by the red haired wife, Capable, played by Riley Keough who in real life is the eldest grandchild of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.  Their pairing is the only relationship remotely approaching a love connection

The evil pursuers catch up to Furiosa's battle wagon from time to time, but are never quite able to conquer her or her comrades.  The staging of the close range combat is amazing.  It's all done while traveling at very high speed across the sands.  Some characters seem to have nine lives, as combatants I thought sustained a fatal blow reappear in the next sequence.  Enemies are able to balance with ease standing atop a careening battle wagon.  Some are dozens of feet above the ground in what appear to be super flexible pole vault apparatus attached to high speed war machines.  Different people in Furiosa's group get behind the wheel of the wagon, but they don't stay long in the driver's seat.  While the vehicle is in motion they step out on a running board or the hood just as calmly as if they were getting off a bus,and someone else takes over the driving duties.  My favorite touch in all this is the soldier, hitched to the rear of one of Joe's trucks, who is playing a double-neck electric guitar belting out a metal tune, somewhat analogous to a bugler exhorting the cavalry.

What is shown doesn't always make sense.  For example, in one scene a rock formation resembling Utah's famous arches is blown up to prevent Joe's army from catching up.  But several scenes later, we see the same passageway through the mountains, and the formation is still intact.  Maybe director George Miller just wants to see if we're paying attention.

A recent article in Rolling Stone Magazine tabbed Fury Road as the best movie to be released so far in 2015.  If post-apocalypse action flicks is your bag, you just might agree.  Incidentally, I can't tip you off on the connection between the lyric from the Herman's Hermits song I chose to introduce this post and the story itself, as to do so would constitute a spoiler.  But, you'll understand the appropriateness of the choice near the beginning of the movie's final act.