Conor O’Leary reviews the summer’s ultimate car chase movie, Mad Max: Road Fury….
Mad Max: Road Fury brings a whole new intensity to the phrase “car chase”. It is a film about survival and forging a better life for yourself, even when you’re trapped in the worst of situations. Directed by George Miller , the film stars the talents of Tom Hardy as Max Rocktanansky and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa. It follows our protagonists as they journey across a post-apocalyptic wasteland with the aid of a number of pregnant female survivors, while trying to outrun the forces of the citadel that had kept them prisoner.
Despite being part of a major franchise, Mad Max does an excellent job of drawing the audience into the world of its film and giving them an understanding of the society and its people without needing any prior knowledge. While the background of many of the wasteland scenes can be rather visually uninteresting, it gives the viewer a good idea of the type of environment that our main characters have grown up in and why they are so driven to escape and forge a better life for themselves; it makes for a good journey, although it can be a bit predictable.
The film shows good character growth as we see the group eventually come to care for each other more deeply and help to fight for each other’s survival. Great respect for the female characters is shown through the main character of Furiosa, who is very driven and defensive of her team mates while also working well with her male counterpart Max as the two learn from each other throughout the film.
The action sequences are definitely one of the film’s strongest aspects. While the film begins quite slowly as it establishes its world and society, once the chase begins the plot moves at a brisk but unhurried pace. The many intense action scenes look fantastic, especially those that take place on top of moving vehicles. The continuous movement of the vehicles helps to give the movie a feeling of direction, bringing the audience on a journey of growth and survival; a journey they want to see to the end.
However the film’s use of gory imagery is often unsettling to watch and leaves the viewer with a feeling of pain and disgust. While it does help to establish the brutality of the society, it could ruin the experience for the more sensitive moviegoer. Also, the action-heavy moments often leave the plot feeling a bit straightforward and predictable.
Mad Max is a film about survival and trying to forge a better life for yourself, even when you’re trapped in the worst of situations. It may not have the most inventive of plotlines, but its mix of good character growth and great action scenes will keep you interested from beginning to end.
