There is a very famous experiment called "The Marshmallow Test," which determines whether a child will take one marshmallow the moment it is handed to them or wait for two. How it works is that the researcher(s) tells the child that they can consume the savory treat in front of them or, if they hold off for a few minutes, can get two. George Miller has been pulling the ultimate marshmallow trick on audiences. Waiting 30 years to release his newest film in the Mad Max franchise and constantly teasing fans with production problems and delays, Miller has been telling us we could either have merely a mediocre action film now or a really great one if we just wait for a while. I can happily say it's finally here and worth the wait.
This is a film made by a 70 year old man that has 10000X more energy and excitement than a film made by people 1/3 Miller's age. This is non-stop action where the few times it does get dull involves a break from the balls to the wall craziness of it all. I will preface this by saying that if you don't like the idea of a man in a strange mask blaring a flame filled electric guitar on top of a moving vehicle, you will hate this film. This is absolutely ludicrous stuff to be sure but it's also an amazing amount of fun.
In the film, Tom Hardy plays Max, the role taken on by Mel Gibson in the 1980's (and 1979, but who's counting?). Max wakes up to discover himself a prisoner of an evil ruler (who ironically sounds and looks a bit like Bane, who Hardy played just a few years ago.) This evil ruler (Hugh Keays-Byrne) finds himself chasing after a group of escaped, tough women led by Imperator Furiousa (Charlize Theron, the real star of the film.) Soon, Max finds himself part of this wild goose chase as does villain-reluctantly turned hero Nux (Nicholas Hoult.) While this is all happening, a guy strapped to bungee chords plays a flame shooting electric guitar and old ladies have their day to kick a lot of butt. Yeah...it's that type of film and that's what makes it so wonderful.
What works about the film more than anything else is director-co-writer Miller (the script is also credited to Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris and oh boy, do those two also deserve credit) has emotion, heart and sympathy while still being an explosive, amazingly fun two hour car chase. Miller, McCarthy and Lathouris show the Brett Ratner and Michael Bays of the world how it's really supposed to be done. Unlike most current action film directors, these guys understand there still needs to be character development and meaning to what's happening on screen. In the same way "Nevermind" by Nirvana showed rock musicians how it's really done, there is no doubt that Mad Max: Fury Road will be effective in showing action filmmakers how they should do it. Also, please note this film rarely uses green screen, CGI or anything of the sort. Around 99% of the effects in this film are completely practical. That guy awesomely shooting flames out of an electric guitar on bungee chords is really happening. This gives the audience much more to care about and puts much higher stakes on whether or not these characters win in the end.
In 1981, the incredibly talented Miller made Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which undoubtedly brought in a whole new line of great action films that followed in its path. In this, Miller will undoubtedly repeat himself by making more films like this show up on your local movie theater marquee and less films like those of the Transformers and Taken franchises. Thank you so much Mr. Miller for that!
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images)
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