Saturday, May 30, 2015

The Belated Review for "MAD MAX: FURY ROAD"



What a lovely day indeed.

I haven't seen a movie like "Mad Max: Fury Road" come from a mainstream studio in quite some time. It's a glorious throwback to the films of the 60s/70s/80s where a bargain basement plot wasn't shoved down your throat combined with modern filmmaking technology. Right from the time the opening narration ends to the film's final frame, it's non-stop, insane, holy mother of fucking shit I can't believe what I just fucking saw action...and it's absolutely bloody brilliant.

Normally this would be the part where I would talk about the cast and the plot, but both are irrelevant here. Maybe not the cast so much, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron are fucking awesome, but what little there is of a plot is so damn little and unnecessary that it doesn't matter. Normally in any other film this would be a detriment, but here it isn't. There's no exposition or real character development because there doesn't need to be any. Director George Miller knows what the fuck he's doing here, and sweet fucking Christ is it glorious.

I could come up with a million other cliché things to say about "Fury Road", but no matter what I say it will not serve the film justice. You have to see it with your own eyes and you absolutely HAVE to experience it in a theater while you still can. You will not see a big-budget action film like this come from a major studio in mainstream America ever again...at least until there's a sequel...which by that time who really knows if it'll even come close to holding a candle to "Fury Road".

When we were on our way out of the theater after the film concluded, having to make a pit stop in the bathroom, my buddy (not a euphemism for my penis) and I overheard some young dudes that were bashing the film, calling it "weird" and "stupid". For a generation that has grown up on nothing but flashy "Fast and Furious" movies and Michael Bay "films" (I use that term very loosely), "Fury Road" and the idea of Mad Max as a whole is lost on them, and I feel truly sorry for them for that as well.

Oh, and "Fury Road" was directed by a 70-year old man. Directors in their 20s don't nearly have the eye for the kinetic energy that George Miller managed to craft here. I can keep stroking myself about this movie all damn day, but I think this is a good place to stop for now. Go see it if you haven't already. You'll be surprised how much it sticks with you afterward...and you'll be even more surprised how badly you'll want to see it again.

One last thing: if seeing a guy strapped to a war-machine vehicle playing a flame-throwing guitar isn't the most METAL thing you've ever seen, I don't know what is.

No comments:

Post a Comment