#6 — Mad Max: Fury Road
This is part of an illustrated countdown of my 49 1/2 most essential action movies. Last week I talked about a very sad killer who feels bad about a mistake he made (doesn’t involve all the killing, he feels pretty okay about that), but it might be too much of a cross to bear, in John Woo’s “The Killer”.
I really like all the Mad Max movies (especially Road Warrior), but this one kinda breaks the mold in some ways. We’ve had some distance, I think I can say that now. Until Fury Road came along, these were kinda like westerns to me. This entry pushes the action farther than its ever gone while expanding the scope into blockbuster fantasy territory. This is something much more primal than the wild west with V8 engines. This is a Lord of the Rings battle chariot rigged with NOS. The battle-ravaged setting feels ancient, almost Biblical — along with the characters.
The story is sparse on paper, but contains enough subtext and visual storytelling to feel like an ancient scroll translated and brought to life by the mad genius of Babe: Pig in the City. This entry centers around a tyrannical King Bowser type who has this whole collection of Princess Peaches that he keeps locked in his tower for breeding. There’s a childlike use of descriptive language at play that really makes this feel like a bedtime story for kids that survived World War III. The Many Mothers, the Green Place, Bullet Town, Aqua Cola, blood bags (those are slave people repurposed into hood ornaments and hooked up to their driver through an IV).
Max’s opening monologue leads to his capture as one of those blood bags, and his attempted escape blurs the lines between nightmare and reality. He tries to break out through a tower door in the sky leading to absolutely nothing and is dragged back in by a sea of arms before some kind of orange elastic is wrapped over his face and he’s yanked back inside. Then the title “MAD MAX FURY ROAD” slams the door shut.
In a series of post-apocalyptic campfire tales, this is the most broadly appealing. It’s also adorned with oddball details that expand the world, tell the story, and render the characters — often in the middle of an action scene. It’s all so effortless you don’t even realize it’s happening. There’s an entire cult established about cars with a single shot (one of my favorites in a collection of unforgettable images). “War boys” will sometimes spray-paint their mouth silver before a sacrificial act in battle and the kamikaze/viking inspired mythology of honor bound deeds and eternal glory are immediately understood.
One thing that’s really special about Fury Road is that the best character in the movie isn’t even Max. Charlize Theron, as Imperator Furiosa, is Max’s equal as a survivor of the wasteland, but she’s got her own thing going that he just happens to crash-land into. The shaved head, war paint, and mechanical arm are instantly iconic — but her performance really stands out too. She’s part Clint Eastwood, part valkyrie.
Tom Hardy plays Max noticeably different from Mel, feral and haunted by ghosts of the wasteland. He’s the wild card and ultimate assist to Furiosa’s composed, child-soldier origins. Their duo is one of the best in action cinema, tested by a legitimately great hand-to-hand fight scene and consummated by a sniper rifle shot that makes me think “man, in another life, these two……”, but there’s no room such things in this world. Their mutual respect for each other is very satisfying.
Fury Road (and by extension, most of the franchise) feels like it’s getting away with the same trick over and over, reflecting its simple structure. I think it’s just a testament to George Miller’s vision (along with some incredible artists) that every segment of this fable feels like it’s own explosive vignette. It’s the Never-ending story presented by Hieronymus Bosch and the X Games. They’re gonna escape the citadel, travel through the canyon, reach the end of the world and turn back — but every encounter is going to highlight some weird post-civilization detail in the coolest way possible.
The diversity in action for such a car-centric movie is pretty amazing as well. The caravan of vehicles barreling across the sand dunes looks like a fleet of ships, and almost every action sequence involves the environment moving around the characters. The things that happen during these chases feel like the creative gold standard for blockbuster action, sitting alongside films like Terminator 2 or The Matrix as stuff that comes once or twice (if we’re lucky) in a generation.
This movie is only five years old, but I remember feeling like I was witnessing cinematic history in real time. I didn’t get to see those other aforementioned films on the big screen, but this time I didn’t miss it. The pre-title sequence is such a statement, shattering any preconceived notions about what it would be. We weren’t ready for Fury Road. The kind of creative power, freedom, and craft on display here is such that only a select few can possess it without completely destroying themselves. Only a director with the title “Imperator” can wield it. Imperator Cameron, Imperator Wachowski, and so on.
That Imperator George Miller could bring this franchise back after 30 years and unleash something so visceral and imaginative is a feat worthy of Valhalla.
