A film that’ll leave action fans drooling over its relentless, kaleidoscopic, retina-bursting Cirque de Soleil-style setpieces, and everyone else scratching their heads wondering where the plot, dialogue and character arcs went, Mad Max: Fury Road is an alternately ridiculous, progressive, eye-rolling and entertaining chase through an apocalyptic world.
Reviving the franchise after 30 years, director George Miller (the genre-hopping director of Mad Max, Happy Feet and Lorenzo’s Oil) again utilises the manic energy, dark weirdness and gritty landscape of the original, while adding some modern flourishes.
Embracing a filmmaking philosophy of “show don’t tell”, Miller’s screenplay is light on words – but his characters are both expressive and subversive. Charlize Theron’s role as Furiosa – a steely determined saviour who has few words
to spare, but plenty of guts and tech-savvy – is deliberately more intriguing and influential than the self-preserving and unengaging survivor Max (Tom Hardy.) The two combine forces during Furiosa’s quest to free the enslaved wives of Immortan Joe, tyrannical ruler of the arid Citadel. Furiosa’s precious human cargo, played by Zoe Kravitz and models Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Abbey Lee, similarly overcome their initially objectifying introduction, evolving from unwitting contestants into warriors, seeking out an older generation of biker women who may offer them refuge.
The subtle characterisation does become lost amidst the wild action, as steampunk cars and aerial warriors battle it against a backdrop of corrosively-paletted rust and teal landscapes. As cameras speed along manic skeletal racer-boys, with face-on shots capturing the wild energy of the warriors, a soundtrack filled with dramatic strings and operatic rock guitar creates a pumping energy. Freakshow elements and gratuitous gore add an element of Vegas absurdity to this breathless desert ride, but the film’s ferocity never lets up. Just be sure you want to get on – because it won’t stop for you.