Rating: 15
Cast:
Tom Hardy ... Max Rockatansky
Charlize Theron ... Imperator Furiosa
Nicholas Hoult ... Nux
Hugh Keays-Byrne ... Immortan Joe
(there are many, many wonderful others, but I'm not going to list them all)
Summary:
When Imperator Furiosa flees the Citadel and Immortan Joe with his wives, seeking the green place in a post apocalyptic wasteland, she accidentally helps free Max, a prisoner of Immortan Joe being used as a universal donor for his War Boy Nux. Running from Immortan Joe and his allies they team up to survive and escape.
So I saw this film on Thursday last week and I really enjoyed it. The characters are awesome, the stunts are amazing and it dragged me right in.
My husband on the other hand was bored out of his skull - and no, he says it has nothing to do with the fact the film should really be called "Furious Furiosa and Mad Max". He felt that the whole film was one long bunch of the same thing and the first time it was spectacular, but two hours of it left him cold.
I on the other hand thought the battles were amazing and all slightly different and that the characters elevated the whole thing to a new level.
I love Furiosa, I love Max, I love the Wives, I love Nux, I even love Immortan Joe, despotic bastard that he is. They all make this a fantastic film. All of them evolve over the film, even the bad guy, and that is a true achievement. These are not static characters there simply to fill a hole, they react, they grow, they change, and in some cases they break.
I have read many articles on how this is a feminist movie and one or two on how, actually it isn't a feminist movie, and many people have talked about this much better than I can, so all I have to say is this: Mad Max Fury Road has the most brilliant female characters.
There is also no denying how spectacular this film is on a visual level. Be warned, there is very little respite from the amazing stunts and effects. The majority of this movie is a road battle with big rigs, cars, tanks, bikes and anything else of a vehicular nature and it's stunning. Guns, fire, knives, men on bendy poles - it has everything.
That being said, however, I would have liked the end to be a little more climactic. Because most of the film is so big, the end felt just a little bit not big enough. I know, I know, I'm being picky, but I almost missed the most important part of the final battle - I suspect because of the 15 rating actually. It wasn't as gory as it could have been. Most of the film worked really well at a 15, but not that one part. On a rewatch I may feel differently, but not at the moment.
This is a first class, character driven, action movie - not a phrase I thought I would ever use ;). I really enjoyed it and it will be on my pre-order list very shortly. However, I have had to promise that I will never make my husband sit through it again.
Have you seen Mad Max: Fury Road? Did you enjoy it? If you haven't seen it are you going to?
Will definitely have to see this at the first opportunity... unfortunately we don't get out to the movies much lately, so it will probably be at home on video in a couple of months. :-(
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it once you get a chance to see it :)
DeleteI've seen it in theaters twice, so I liked it a lot. It was nonstop action with great characters. It left me wanting to go back to that world and I do hope there will be more. Or maybe I don't. Hmm, do we want to attempt another? Sequels generally tend to suck and this one set the bar high.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's always that way with sequels isn't it ... then again, usually if you hold out for the third one it becomes awesome again - except for Alien where the first and second were great and no 3 was horrid.
DeleteI loved it, check out the score/soundtrack to... it's one of my favorites so far this year...
ReplyDeleteI honestly can't remember much of the soundtrack, except for every time the guitar guy came onto screen :)
DeleteI haven't gone to see this yet, but I'm really excited to go see it. I could never get into the original one, so I may be one of those people that simple loves it or hates it... but I'm looking forward to finding out!
ReplyDeleteHave fun :) I don't think my husband and I have come out of a movie with such completely opposite views before - usually we agree :D
DeleteSince I hadn't seen the 1980s Mad Max, I didn't really know what I was in for, so the first 20 minutes I sort of sat there with my mouth hanging open. What did I get myself into? Once the massive desert chase scenes quieted to get to the characters a little more, I was transfixed.
ReplyDeleteI loved that this move had very little exposition or characters explaining the world. You're immersed in it, and you live their adventure. I was surprised how many women characters were in this for an action movie. It's sad, but I get so used to seeing action movies and superhero movies where there is maybe one "strong" female, and she is either the girlfriend or is one other character besides the hero's girlfriend. Mad Max subverted those tropes, and it's both exciting and a little sad that we are so excited by something that should be far more commonplace in mainstream film.
I love that you love the lack of exposition, I have seen some people not like it for that, but I'm with you. However, there were huge holes in it, like the science seemed a little whacked, but I just stopped thinking about it :).
DeleteIt was so brilliant for female characters. Like I was watching Resident Evil: Retribution last night and it has a lot of female characters, but every single one of them is sexualised. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Resident Evil, but it was so amazing to see a female lead in Mad Max who was bad ass and did not have her boobs on display and was not wearing head to toe dominatrix gear.
I also saw a very interesting break down on Tumblr about how shots were framed as well, how the women were framed the same way as the men, with the focus on their faces rather than focusing on their boobs or their arses.