First Things First…
Finally! I don’t know how I’ve let nine years go by without seeing this. I had already seen the original trilogy when this came out. Maybe I just didn’t prioritize it because I didn’t like those movies nearly as much the first time I watched them.
But then this was SO acclaimed and got 10 Oscar nominations, with six wins. That’s crazy for a franchise blockbuster like this. I should’ve made a point of seeing it by now.
5 Things I Like
5. Immortan Joe
“I am your redeemer! It is by my hand you will rise from the ashes of this world!”
Immortan Joe
Immortan Joe isn’t a well-developed villain, but he doesn’t have to be. Just look at him…
He’s physically grotesque, and he’s a vile person who keeps the people he rules in squalor by controlling the water supply. And he keeps a handful of wives, who are also referred to as “breeders.”
In the beginning of the movie, a crowd of filthy beggars chant his name as they await him briefly turning on the water so they can fight for a few drops. But what’s telling is that same crowd instantly descends on his corpse and rips it to pieces after Max kicks it off the war rig when he returns to the Citadel. Clearly Joe inspires more fear than respect.
Also, I didn’t find this out until looking at the film’s IMDB page after I watched it, but he’s played by Hugh Keays-Byrne—the same actor who played Toecutter in Mad Max.
I love that they brought him back. (And unlike when Bruce Spence played two different characters in the second and third films who look exactly the same and are both pilots, there’s no confusion about whether this is supposed to be the same character.)
4. Awakening the Dead
Furiosa is a badass who nearly kills Max when they first cross paths and become instant enemies.
But as they begrudgingly work together and slowly bond, you can see they’re actually similar. Furiosa has also lost a lot, and she’s seen a lot of shit working as an Imperator for Immortan Joe. The difference is, she’s not hollowed out like Max. She still has hope. And although Max tells her hope is a mistake, there’s a reason she has more than just a survival instinct. She has an instinct to help—to save those who are desperate to be saved, like Joe’s wives.
Most impressively, Furiosa’s will is so strong it even revives some of Max’s forgotten humanity.
3. Replacing Max
“My name is Max. My world is fire and blood.”
Max
Tom Hardy has the right look, style, and temperament to play Max. Still, like in Mad Max 2, there’s so little dialogue that it takes awhile to get to know him.
Our sense of Max through much of the movie comes from his visions of people he failed to save, who he imagines blame him for their deaths. That’s why he’s a dead-eyed, hollowed-out ghost whose lone instinct is to survive.
But Furiosa and the other ladies slowly reawaken his humanity.
The first sign is when one of Immortan Joe’s wives, Angharad, manages to hang onto the side of the rig while helping Max. She smiles at Max, and he returns a small smile and an even smaller thumbs-up in his rearview mirror.
From there, he much more willingly fights, protects, and sacrifices. Even after he was used as a blood donor against his will earlier on, he saves Furiosa’s life by giving her an urgently needed blood transfusion as she’s dying in the rig.
Max never betrays his character. It’s fitting that he fades into the crowd, and back into anonymity, with nothing but a wave and a nod after their return to the Citadel. But it’s a joy watching Hardy slowly bring him to life as the movie goes on.
2. Back in the Wasteland
I don’t know if this part of their world is considered part of the Wasteland, but I think of the entire Mad Max world that way. And it’s so good to be back there, because the aesthetic George Miller created continues to get better.
Things are always bizarre and over the top in these movies. You’ve got the War Boys running around in packs, looking like horror movie freaks… the bulbous People Eater… the guy playing a guitar that shoots flames during the epic chase… so much adds to the ambiance and makes it unmistakably Mad Max’s world.
1. The Beating Heart
“If I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die historic on the Fury Road.”
Nux
I had the impression that a lot of people felt Charlize Theron steals the movie—hence the Furiosa prequel that just came out.
I disagree, though. I like her, but Nicholas Hoult steals the movie.
Nux is so sickly he might’ve been sympathetic from the beginning. But one of the first things he does is use Max as his personal blood bank. And he’s brainwashed by the cult of Immortan Joe, eager to die for him and to be taken to Valhalla as a hero.
But once he fails in front of Joe and believes he’s lost his chance at glory, he’s distraught, until he’s shown compassion by one of Joe’s wives, Capable, who has no reason to show him kindness.
Nux sees there’s a different way to treat people and to make your way through the world. He gets to be part of a team, to use his skills to protect rather than destroy.
The more he becomes one of them, the less pale and sickly he looks.
In a very short time, he grows to care and to be cared for in the most surprising of ways. He transcends what he’s supposed to be.
And in the end, he gets his glorious death anyway. Not while doing a cult leader’s bidding, but while helping the woman who “saved” him survive.
0 Things I’m Mixed On
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Furiosa Goes Rogue
“Treason, betrayal, an Imperator gone rogue.”
A War Boy
Furiosa enacts her plan so early in the film that we never see her struggle with her decision or planning. It just happens.
After getting publicly singled out for praise by Immortan Joe, next thing we know, she’s abandoning him. It doesn’t give us a chance to see Furiosa on an arc.
Tim Matassa
