Mad Max: Fury Road Review - Action As Art

Hardy as Max is great; suitably understated and with so little dialogue that assessment of whether he's nailed the accent or not is moot (although he certainly seems to). Max's role in the film's plot is one very interesting talking point; he's certainly the through-line hero, but unlike any of the earlier films he isn't the centre of the narrative. Instead, as the bottom-left/top-right double billing in the opening credits hints, this is Charlize Theron's Furiousa's story, imbuing the film, which has such eighties elements as a fire-spouting guitar and a soldier naming his tumours, an underlying modern and feminist feel. This forward momentum in approach is reflected in the development Max does get. While the gasoline shortage is as prominent as it's ever been, the film is less eco-warning than it is post-apocalyptic psychiatry. In the very opening Max muses "As the world fell it was hard to know who was more crazy. Me... Or everyone else," setting the tone and clueing the audience into the point of the explosive exercise. But what of the many coming to Fury Road as a newly Maddened? There's much less audience recognition for Max Rockatansky than there is the T-800 or Ellen Ripley, and although that's a financial crutch, creatively it helps the film stand by itself. There's plenty of homages to the earlier films that will give long-standing fans cause to smile, yet they're not wink-wink nudge-nudge Easter eggs but fully justified elements of this individual movie's setting. That's one of the most commendable elements of Miller's world-building - although it fits within the broad mythology, this is something that works on its own, welcome to both newcomers and old-hands already weary of shared universes (although the film's success has now led to Hardy and Miller gearing up for more). It's rare that a summer blockbuster is deserving of a five-star rating. Many can provide a fun time at the movies, but few offer anything in the way of meaningful subtext or genuinely investible emotions; simply, anything to turn them into art. Mad Max: Fury Road is that exception, a transcendence of its literal B-Movie origins into something thoughtful, exhilarating and, most prominently, beautiful. It's right at home among the more arthouse fare of Cannes and deserves to be warmly welcomed into the multiplex. What did you make of Mad Max: Fury Road? Share your thoughts down in the comments.