It has been thirty years since Director George Miller played in his post-apocalyptic sand box called Mad Max and I was a little apprehensive to see if the director could recapture the spirit of his original trilogy. Thankfully, Millers’ “revisiting” of this wasteland he created, easily recaptures the feel of the trilogy without alienating new comers to the series.
In a nutshell, the Mad Max trilogy (Mad Max, The Road Warrior & Mad Max: Beyond Thunderome) tells a tale of the aftermath that could happen if the world as we know has collapsed. Where resources such as gas, oil and water are scarce and those that have these resources have all the power. This is the tale of one man making his way through the wasteland, former policeman turned drifter, Max Rockatansky, and whose sole mission is to survive the wasteland.
In Fury Road, Max gets captured by a gang led by the hideous overlord Immortan Joe(Hugh Keays-Bryne) who controls the water supply and in turn the people. Through one of many of Fury Road’s amazing chase scenes, Max literally collides with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who has just stolen Immotan Joe’s five wives in a daring escape attempt. Now Furiosa and Max must try to survive Immortan Joes’s onslaught and find freedom.
Tom Hardy does a fine job in replacing Mel Gibson, but Charlize Theron steals the show in Fury Road. Theron’s Furiosa is the heart and soul, the driving force behind this movie. Her character is vulnerable, smart and of course bad-ass; I believe she is one of the most engaging heroines in a film since Ellen Ripley in Aliens’ played by Sigourney Weaver.
Mad Max: Fury Road; gets high marks for keeping the feel of the original trilogy and it gives action fans a truly unique movie experience. But, after a thirty year absence, the audiences’ taste has changed, so the question becomes: can today’s modern movie goer truly immerse themselves into the world that Miller created?
Enter at your own risk, but enter openheartedly because one thing is for certain, Fury Road is like nothing you’ve seen in recent memory.
