Mad Max: Fury Road

NB: I have a more detailed and spoilery review of this film at the Bad Movie Marathon, but this ought not to be taken as a sign that it is bad. Like, at all.

Mad Max was a film that revolutionised Australian cinema and almost created its own subgenre of post-apocalyptic SF (and also kickstarted the career and slow slide into weirdness of Mel Gibson, but you can't have everything.) It was notably low budget (c.A$400,000,) and after its unexpected success produced a successful mid-budget sequel (Mad Max II: The Road Warrior, A$4.5 million) the franchise choked on a turgid blockbuster threequel (Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome, A$12 million) and went quiet for almost thirty years.

Mad Max: Fury Road is a $150 million (that's 3/4 the budget of the new Star Wars movie) mega blockbuster, which given that history seems at first to be the wrong way to go, but the result is a gritty, primal tour de force, full of high octane action and properly strong female characters (and not just Charlize Theron's action girl Furiosa, but the a solid half dozen varied and significant female roles, and as many more in support.) The Brides in particular could have been so much baggage, but each of them has her own strengths and weaknesses, her own arc, and her own moment to shine.

Angharad the Splendid, Capable, Toast the Knowing, Cheedo
the Fragile and the Dag, which is apparently Australian for
'Mother of Dragons'.

And the film is visually jaw-dropping, from the vast sweeping vistas of open wasteland to the FX powerhouse of the titanic dust storm. On the smaller scale, every aspect of design is seamless and purposeful, from the costume on up, but most especially in the amazing array of hybrid vehicles and weaponry which serve not only as colour, but to define the battle strategies of each group. I saw it in 2D, but I have heard that even the 3D is awesome and effective.

Is it perfect? Well, what is? What Fury Road gives us is something both true to its roots and quite unique in itself, as well as the indicator that it may finally be time to get beyond Thunderdome.