“WHAT A DAY, WHAT A LOVELY DAY!”
In honour of my 25th birthday I decided to flash back to the best film I saw in 2015, that came out on all shiny and gold at the Oscars, winning 6 awards. I remember seeing the trailer for Fury Road and immediately being blown away, this was the first movie in the Mad Max franchise that I saw, and I definitely started with the best one. It wasn’t until after seeing Fury Road, that I went back and saw the rest of the films in the franchise, which is always fun. The Mad Max franchise is brilliant for its post-apocaltpic atmosphere and great sequences of Action. It also is worth noting, I saw this movie in theatres 3 times, and I definitely wanted to see it again. I’m glad I own the blu-ray of this, because sometimes you just gotta get your Fury Road on.
Mad Max: Fury Road is an action, adventure, Sci-Fi film about A woman who rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post-apocalyptic Australia in search of her homeland with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper, and a drifter named Max.
The mastermind behind the franchise is back directing and writing, George Miller. He is the genius behind such films as Mad Max (1979), The Road Warrior (1981), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Babe: Pig In The City (1998), Happy Feet (2006), and Happy Feet Two (2011). He will also be writing and directing the sequel to Fury road, entitled Mad Max: The Wasteland, which as of now doesn’t have a release date, but you better believe that I will be there day one to see it. George Miller is a maniacal scientist who carefully has been plotting this film for years. He didn’t really have a script per se, but he had over 3,500 story board images that he created with his crew to prepare to start filming. Every part of this movie was like a picture, it was beautifully shot. The cinematography is insane, and the colour palette really pops, I think Miller uses a specific filter to get the dark colors really dark, and his bright colours brighter. There were rumours for a while that Miller wouldn’t be returning to the Mad Max franchise after this film, which would be awful. There is no Mad Max without George Miller meticulously plotting every move. He’s done an absolutely phenomenal job, so much so that he was nominated for a Best Director Oscar last year, but unfortunately lost to Alejandro G. Inarritu and his film The Revenant. But I think Miller is proud of the 6 other oscars he won, and he won in my eyes.
Everything about this movie, from the visuals to the non-stop action is brilliant. It’s essentially a two hour chase movie, and holy crap the adrenaline doesn’t stop for that two hours.
Mad Max: Fury Road stars the one and only Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky, otherwise known as Mad Max. His other roles consist of Black Hawk Down (2001), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), Layer Cake (2004), RockNRolla (2008), Bronson (2008), Inception (2010), Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (2011), Warrior (2011), This Means War (2012), Lawless (2012), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Locke (2013), The Drop (2014), Legend (2015), and The Revenant (2015). Tom Hardy is always brilliant to watch, I can honestly say I’ve seen most if not all his films and none of them have been anything less than great. I have my favourites, like the ones I will watch again and again, but they’re all great. Mad Max Fury Road is definitely my favourite film that he has been in so far. He doesn’t talk a lot, but his actions and reactions to the events of the film is just well done. I can’t wait to see him in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film Dunkirk (due out July 21, 2017). Fury Road also stars Charlize Theron, as Furiosa. Theron, I believe is underrated. I’ve always enjoyed her as an actor, and I’ve always enjoyed the roles she’s taken, and Mad Max: Fury Road is no different. Her other roles consist of That Thing You Do! (1996), The Cider House Rules (1999), Reindeer Games (2000), The Italian Job (2003), Monster (2003), Hancock (2008), The Road (2009), Prometheus (2012), A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). I think that Theron stole the show in Mad Max, she was just a badass for lack of a better word. Lastly, Nicholas Hoult is in Fury Road as Nux. His other film roles consist of About A Boy (2002), The Weather Man (2005), Skins TV Series (2007-2013), X-Men: First Class (2011), Warm Bodies (2013), X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014), and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). I’ve always enjoyed Hoult’s acting, and theres been times where I’ve gone out of my way to go see a movie if he’s in it. He’s brilliant, and I see bright things in his future.
The soundtrack to this movie is amazing. I remember leaving the theatre and getting home that opening weekend, and immediately downloading the soundtrack, it makes ordinary driving around much more epic. I think the coolest character came with the soundtrack, which was The Doof Warrior. You didn’t miss him the first time or in the trailer, he was the badass with the guitar that shot flames. You may think you’re cool, but you’ll never be rocking out on a moving truck, with a guitar that shoots flames. You can try, but I don’t think you’ll be able to get there.
The whole movie is my favourite, but the stand out scene to me is near the end with the pole-rats. I’ve never seen something like that before in my life. These rats are guys that are on a pendulum, swinging back and forth across the sky, while moving forward, attached to a car. Its insane to see, and super entraining to see.
If you like action movies, car chases or just an extremely visual story that is just fun to watch, look no further than Mad Max: Fury Road. You won’t be disappointed, or not entertained.
Mad Max: Fury Road gets a 5/5 from me.
Until Next Time!
-Andrew
**Note**
I have a screening pass to a film called Middle School: The Worst Years of my Life, which I never heard of, but its free so i’m in. Stay tuned for a review of that!
I have a screening pass to see 15 minutes of Doctor Strange in IMAX, which is really weird, but 15 minutes? i’ll give you what I think about that footage and if it makes me want to go see the full movie in November.
I also have my name in to win passes to go see Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick’s new movie called The Accountant, so hopefully I win that.