Mad Max: Fury Road Movie Review

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Rent Mad Max: Fury Road on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico Lathouris
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot:
After escaping the Citadel, Mad Max (Tom Hardy) becomes a key part in Furiosa's (Charlize Theron) betrayal of the overlord Immorten Joe.

Verdict:
Mad Max: Fury Road is an excellent action movie because it excels not only at action, but with story telling that avoids and subverts cliches and tropes. Fury Road is surprising at every turn and entertaining for every second. It looks great from composition to production.
Watch it.

Review:
I saw Fury Road last year in theaters, and I liked it even more seeing it again. The story unfolds perfectly. It's got a great opening that's high octane at the start, from Max's capture to his attempted escape. It's a stylized post apocalypse world that feels part comic book, due to the fact co-writer Brendan McCarthy works in the comic industry. This stylization makes it fun. All of the cars look great, even if they are over the top. Realistically, the cars would be simple rust buckets, but that changes the entire aesthetic of the film. Each car has an incredible design.

Mad Max: Fury Road - The definitive action movie.

The pacing is thrilling. It really is expert film making. You get a feel for the characters of Furiosa and Max in just a few actions. Furiosa is freeing Immorten Joe's harem. Max is along for the ride because it's his best chance for survival. In a great moment of subverting common action movie tropes, a member of Immorten Joe's harem escapes death. We've seen this scene before countless times, but then Miller doesn't stop. The harem member succumbs moments later. It's a powerful moment, bolstered by Theron and Hardy's reaction. He states they have to keep moving because "She went under the wheels." The rest of the harem beseech him to turn back, but Theron relents and agrees with Hardy. They share a bond based strictly on mutual survival and it thankfully doesn't fall into the romantic trope.

When the plan fails, they go back to the Citadel. It's a great resolution because it's uncommon.
Max knows when to step back, he's missed two rifle shots and hands the rifle to Furiosa who uses Max's shoulder to steady the rifle. This really is Furiosa's story, Max is just helping.
Max doesn't have to be the hero of this story, and he doesn't have to be great at everything. It doesn't make him any less legendary. While the timeline of this movie and the original Mad Max films could be questioned, this movie could be a legend of Mad Max, a story passed down to generations.

The movie employs a great use of color and composition, though the night time scenes are obviously filmed in daylight and tweaked. Action and fights are never confusing. It's easy to know what's going on in every scene.
The war boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult) would be the only weak point for me. He's too whiny and too eager to please Immorten Joe. I would have preferred an early send off for the character.