Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Film Review

In 1979, director George Miller had a surprise hit on his hands with Mad Max, in which Mel Gibson lived in a dystopian future caused by an energy crisis. Following it came two further sequels within the next decade, and a fourth was stuck in development hell, and with various events (both historical and otherwise) consistently getting in the way of getting production started. But in 2012, the fourth film finally began filming with Tom Hardy taking over the role for a sequel/reboot of sorts. But with blockbusters changing so much since the last Mad Max film - and even having more competition in the driving field thanks to the colossus that is the Fast and Furious franchise - can this Aussie action set piece fit into this modern age. 

In the distant future, the world has turned into chaos. Water is scarce, the land is mostly empty and the people are turning into savages of sorts. Max (Hardy), still reeling from the loss of his wife and daughter, is captured and is taken to an area where a cult-like society reigns supreme, lead by the tyrannical King Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). But when the King's five wives are stolen from him by trusted Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Max tries to use this to his advantage as 'healer' for one of the King's followers (Nicholas Hoult) as a means of escape. Inevitably, he ends up having to join them on their quest to take the girls to safety whilst a large array of the King's cult and countless other factions hunt them down. 

In countless video games, there's often a mission in which you have to drive away from a vehicle. Fury Road is essentially that, with a long cut scene which looks like It's been fast-forwarded slightly and a minute number of breathing points spread across its 120 minute runtime. The rest is all extravagant action set pieces - explosions, car flips, rockfalls galore. As such, it's somewhat difficult trying to have an opinion on the film because it's nothing but action. The story is only vital when you want to remember why all this is happening. As one oddly-shaped character says, it's all because of a family kerfuffle that everything happens. And unfortunately, for all the action that this film throws at you there's rarely any sense of danger until the final big road war, where the film has to throw everything it has to some level of success. Certainly, the action beforehand is grand and more often than not beautiful to look at, but there's nothing breath-taking onscreen against some of the other blockbuster fare from the past few years. Sometimes less is more, but Miller doesn't believe so here. The story set up is a fine one, albeit one which doesn't strive to any level of originality, but with it being sidelined for the popcorn frenzy that it is it leaves much to be desired. 

What Miller does have is a strong sense of direction, as while the action may become tireless at times you cannot help be tread through it with some level of appeasement. You can see it all in the trailers - especially that Comic-Con one from last summer - but seeing it on a big screen allows you to bask in it. It's truly wonderful; with so many shots looking good enough to hang in a museum. His writing isn't so strong, with dialogue not really standing out and the character beats sprinkled across the explosive cake never really leading anywhere aside from the clichéd sacrifices and surprise deaths. And in some instances you can't hear what they're saying because of all the cars and battling going on all around them.

Tom Hardy is mostly mute and incredibly gruff in the titular role, acting as both hero and villain to his allies across the film's run and never really lasting that much of an impact. Sure, he often saves the skins of his newly-acquainted allies, but being the remorseless character plagued by his past mistakes that he is doesn't allow much room for him to grow. It doesn't help that poor Hardy gets overshadowed by comrade Theron in almost every way. She's tougher, more rounded and emotionally driven, which in turn allows for the larger following of Furiosa that male rights activists are angry about to take its stride. The duo are good in their roles, but Theron puts all the more effort into her performance. A genuine surprise was Hoult as one of the sick 'War Boys', who initially starts off as a devoted follower but later grows into something more thanks to interaction with the escapees. Hoult manages to take on the slight make-up limitations and become one of the most human characters of the bunch, even if his journey is nothing short of regular. As for the assortment of wives, they barely make an impact outside of being bait of sorts. One (Rose Huntington-Whitely) is pregnant, one is forgiving, one is grumpy, and the other two are just there. You barely get to know their names, let alone their characters. But as an assortment of damsels in distress, they distress as best they can. Outside the main vehicle isn't much, bar a menacing-looking King whose shouts are certainly roar-inducing and his son who's more a lackey if anything. There's plenty of other characters, but they're only notable by the make-up done on them in this weird (and yet slightly wonderful) world that they live in.  

When leaving the screening for Fury Road, I overheard one pair proclaiming that they weren't sure what the critics were on about. I'm pretty much in the same boat, as critic after critic have shouted across the rooftops the praise and adoration for this film. It doesn't really feel like a film, but more of an event akin to a demolition derby or a race. Sure, it can often be a beautiful looking thing with impressive production work and a ending which leaves you excited, but the rest drags a little by comparison, and you often wonder when they’re going to stop and talk. In a way, it's the epitome of a popcorn film - but if popcorn films are going to follow this way of being about nothing but the action, then we may have a problem. It’s a good film, but at times feels like it's running on empty. 6/10.