Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Since I haven't slept on it yet, I'm considering this a first impressions post.
I hope to return to expand on some thoughts at the details roll around in my head a little bit.
To me, "Avengers 2: Robotic Boogaloo" marked the start of the summer blockbuster season. I've seen eight movies in less than a month, but I'm currently putting "Fury Road" at the top of my action movie list for 2015.
Viewing the trailers for this movie, I noticed a guitar player that appeared to spay fire. I thought if the movie has details, twists and flourishes that are equally creative, it would be a worthy entry in the franchise.
I happy to say such hopes were realized, set on fire and subsequently detonated ... in a good way.
Previously I've said the original "Mad Max" is nearly boring in the way the future doesn't seem too far removed from the present. Sure, we can see the cracks in society, and in the literal walls of the police station, but a world that still has operating beach resorts and ice cream joints hasn't fully collapsed. The "end" hasn't come, though you might be able to glimpse it on the horizon if you stand on your tip-toes ... of if you stand before the shirtless police captain on extra casual Fridays.
"Road Warrior" is the first time when we see Max when he can't call for backup. We're several steps beyond the familiar, even compared to the last movie (his car is called the last of its kind, and it doesn't make it through Act II).
"Beyond Thunderdome" is almost cartoon-like in places, as society had to abandon old standards of sanity that could not survive the new status quo that had developed.
So the boss is a tiny man who rides around on the back of what is basically a muscle machine and has the power to turn off all the lights if he gets peeved? Yeah, I like pigs and have gotten used to never bathing, so I think I'll put in an application.
As part of the expanding cinematic universe, and the fact that movie executives and audiences expect things to get bigger (see how the number of villains often multiply as the sequel number gets higher or how now it's "Jurassic World" and not just another "Jurassic Park").
Being part of a bigger story and having to meet bigger demands, George Miller and company used the extra time between chapters to raise the stakes, and it was worth the wait.
We have a constantly shifting siege that travels through the basic elements - earth, wind, fire and water (though unlike the Thunderdome, we don't have a monkey with heart). Our protagonists face steep odds, that only seem to get uglier, Sure, they celebrate small victories, but as is a trend in the series, there is a cost, and it often comes in the form of friends and other loved ones.
Despite being the title character, Max is not our real protagonist,. Despite the camera following him at the beginning and the end, the action and plot is centered around Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa.
Max is always getting caught up in the mad plots of others - a crazed motorcycle gang leader,a group of settlers who are finally ready to make a break beyond the wastelands, Tina Turner - and he is usually literally along for the ride.
Without Charlize masterminding a jailbreak from the second-worst episode of "Sister Wives" (the worst one being a tie with all the other episodes), Max probably would have quietly escaped and there'd be no action worth projecting on the big screen.
Note: I saw the 2-D version, not the 3-D one, so I'm not sure if the effects are worth the extra money. However, after the headache that accompanied the back-to-back screenings of Averngers 1 and 2, I wasn't in a hurry to slip on the glasses.
Furiosa is the only one with a complete arc. Max has flashes of past regrets, which largely go unexplained in a rarely seen storytelling technique, and kudos for that. The names of the brides make me believe there's some backstory that was left on the editing room floor. How do you get a nickname like "Toast the Knowing"? Nope, the only one who starts out with a dream, fights for it, sees it slip away and then finds another one worth chasing is Charlize.
Max is there to ride and wield shotgun because he can't help but do the right thing for others, even if it's at great cost to himself, but Furiosa is the one firmly behind the wheel.
If you like a great chases punctuated by fearsome stunts, close shaves and damsels who are willing to take part in their own rescuing, you'll enjoy this road trip.
And don't forget one of the more understated lessons of the movie. Always be willing to give blood.
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