Mad Max: Fury Road

On a Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 Being the Best

7

Courtesy of Metapicture

Plot: In the future everyone is fighting for survival. The only things that are left are cars, water, and other people which are scarce and often abused. This film focuses on Furiosa who is trying to smuggle out the warlords wives and get to "the green place." On their way they meet Max who was kidnapped and used as a blood donor by the warlord party. Max is haunted by his past which causes him to hallucinate. It is an interesting story-line but I wish that the annunciation in the film was more clear so we could understand the story-line better. I have not watched the other Mad Max films but did not need to, to understand this film. 

Characters/Actors of Note: 

Tom Hardy playing Mad Max: Mr. Hardy had few lines in this film and despite the movie being named after him, isn't the main character. Max does come to save the day in the end and is a huge help but is forced to come along with the crew. He was more of a reluctant hero. I would say that Mr. Hardy did a nice job of being the silent tough guy but how hard could that be to do? 

Hugh Keays-Byrne playing Immortan Joe: This villain was perfect. Immortan Joe is the warlord that has been abusing his power of the people by taking away their water, having multiple wives, and kidnapping strangers to be blood donors to his suicidal army. Immortan Joe tracks his missing wives and risks many of his soldiers lives to do so. Mr. Keays-Byrne does an excellent job of keeping his control while also being desperate; it could be compared to his own costume which makes him appear powerful but is hiding the fact that it is keeping him alive. Nice balance was given to this character.

Charlize Theron playing Imperator Furiosa: As stated before, Furiosa is more of the main character of this film. She is the one that smuggled out the wives, got Max to help her, and kicks many butts. Ms. Theron did a fine job being tough. The language she uses with the wives is in the same tone she uses with the riders. The wives seem intimidated by her but Furiosa obviously cares for all the characters and what she is doing. Ms. Theron balances out her roughness with her empathy well in this film. 

*I was happy to find out that Eve Ensler helped write many of the female roles. I commend the writing of these characters as they weren't just the normal damsels in distress.

Music: The music involves a lot of drums and brass which surprised me as I felt that there was a lot of guitar while watching the film. The movie sounds like rock and roll with a mixture of horror. Junkie XL or Tom Holkenborg was in charge of this music and has done a lot with horror films. Despite me hating horror films I thought that this score was well done. 

Camera Work/Cinematography: Wow, wow, wow was this done so beautifully. Many apocalypse films often use dusty or grey colors but this was not that kind of film. The director stated he was tired of dystopian films done in this matter and remarked that desert people often find beauty in their land. There were tons of colors and wonderful effects in this film. Most of the scenes were not made from CGI which will help the film keep it's beauty longer. My favorite scene was the desert storm scene which used lively blues, reds, and oranges along with bright lightning strikes. I also loved the camera angles as it still gave the effect of fast and crazy without straying from the characters. Often action movies are so involved with fist fights and sprawling that they take away the focus from the faces but this film stayed with the characters.  The costumes and make-up were fantastic for this film as they used representational colors and incorporated the level everyone was at from the "well-treated" wives to the dirty car riders. The use of chrome was clever as it added cult-like beliefs along with some brightness to the film. The pull way from the greatness is the speediness looked very similar to a Baz Luhrmann film, which gave it a sort of cartoonish vibe. The vibrant hallucinations and even the credits seemed a bit over the top as well. 

RECAP:

The plot was well done but the words were so mangled in the film that I lost parts of the story. Since there was hardly any dialogue I will take that every line in this film was important, if only I could hear it. The acting was well done. The music was fine and the cinematography was great. It is a good action film but thanks to it's cinematography, is a great one despite it being a bit over-the-top. 

Courtesy of IndieWire

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