Mad Max: Fury Road Review

"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on a fury road!"

That quote covers so much about this film in such a small amount of words. The death toll elevates, the action is furious and my goodness the movie feels historic. Now hold on, don't roll your eyes at me. Yes you did, I could see you. I know what you are thinking, here he comes with some of that instant reaction hyperbole bullshit, using a word like historic, so let me be clear: no, Mad Max: Fury Road is not one of the greatest films of all time. 

One of the greatest action films of all time though? Yep, I can and will say that without even a fraction of doubt in my body. This is easily one of my favorite genre films ever made. I was battered, bruised and pummeled into submission by the relentless lunacy on display, all while sitting in a leather recliner and sipping a giant soda. I felt physically exhausted by the end of a two hour cinematic experience, and yet that only represents a fraction of why I loved the picture so much. 

George Miller has created an post apocalyptic punk rock masterpiece that left me in awe on numerous occasions. It isn't merely the general concept of the action being cool or non-stop, it's the way the material was handled. The frenzy is directed with such silky smooth confidence that even when the chaos seems completely out of hand, we are able to follow exactly what is happening as clear as day. The set pieces are extraordinary and as imaginative as I have ever seen. I literally said the single word "Wow" aloud to myself on multiple occasions, all while flashing a giant, shit eatin' grin on my face throughout every damn minute. Seriously, when I buy this on Blu-ray, and that's a when, not an if, I may break the player with how many times I am going to give it a spin. Just the thought of being able to dig into some special features regarding how the hell Miller filmed some of these sequences makes me excited for future me.

Despite the praise I laid out above, had it merely been just an action extravaganza I wouldn't be busting out a word like masterpiece. While the intensity of Mad Max: Fury Road is what people will show up for (and I don't blame them one bit), where this films truly excels are those quiet sequences that give us a breather, showcasing some of the finest character development I have seen based on the very small amount of words actually used to achieve it. Charlize Theron deserves an honorary Oscar for her eyes alone, the type of award that would have been handed out long ago during the silent era of cinema, which is rather ironic considering just how modern and loud this puppy is. Her character is named Furiosa and she is a bad ass force to be reckoned with, but in her eyes we get to know her pain. We get to witness her passion. We get to see her soul.

Actually, I can't write this review without addressing another pile of praise that deserves to be heaped towards Mr. Miller and his expert craft of this film. Bless him for truly making a picture that shows how much ass women can kick. She may be too young now, but someday I would be proud to sit my daughter down and allow her to soak in the carnage on display as females are depicted as not just strong, but capable of killing every last mother fucker that gets in their way. Far too often the action genre depicts a woman as a damsel in distress, needing a man to swoop in and save her as she appears weak and fragile rather than courageous and tough. Mad Max: Fury Road gives us women who make us believe they can drop our asses if we try to stop them, and I applaud the hell out of George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris for penning a screenplay that subverts the traditional misguided tropes. 

If you are like me, you saw the overwhelmingly positive critical response to this film and couldn't believe your eyes. I wondered how an action film could be so universally praised, as usually the genre is deemed derivative. I no longer wonder. It is worthy of the accolades. With a musical score that blasts through your body, a brilliantly subtle screenplay that achieves so much by doing so little and quite possibly the greatest action ever put to celluloid, Mad Max: Fury Road is a roaring, thunderous achievement. 

5/5 

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Review

It had been far, far too long, my life without a revisit of The Road Warrior. I recall being a teenager and thinking this was one of the coolest films I had ever seen. George Miller showed some restraint with the original Mad Max and he should have, as it was merely building the world and the circumstances of a society on the brink of madness. A sequel, now that is where he had the opportunity to kick it into high gear, to go balls to the walls with mania and ridiculousness in the best possible ways. Mad Max is certainly entertaining, but The Road Warrior ramps it up into something far more memorable and special. 

While on a supporting character level The Road Warrior is a massive improvement over the original, as Max Rockatansky has some intriguing allies on his side this time around and his adversaries are far more menacing, the real reason we buy into this dystopian depravity is Mel Gibson in the lead role. The progression of his character is fascinating, as we remember him as the married father who doesn't turn mad into tragedy strikes his family. When we reconvene with him here, those strings that held him together in the past have been cut and his life is that of a lone nomad, finding ways to stay alive by any means necessary.

I now recall why, despite seeing both roughly the same amount of time ago, I remembered so little of Mad Max and so much of The Road Warrior. How the hell could you forget a picture like this?  The action, the set pieces and the costume design are remarkable, all making you feel a little bit grimy and uneasy but in an awesome way, like you want to feel that dust on your skin and you want a splash of that blood on your shoes. What really takes this movie to a new level though are those characters, all of them across the board.

George Miller, if you can match or even just come close to the intensity and fun of The Road Warrior with Mad Max: Fury Road, which I will be seeing this upcoming weekend, I will be a very happy man.

4.5/5

Mad Max Review

If you have seen the trailer for the soon to be released film Mad Max: Fury Road, you have witnessed the onslaught of madness that has me as giddy as a school girl, and with that excitement came the desire to revisit the original trilogy. At first I was captivated by just how damn young Mel Gibson once was, which I know seems like a silly thing to say but for some reason my mind imagines he has always been William Wallace, face painted and a heart so brave. Well, I also think about the real life anger and racism, but I digress. 

It had been probably 15 years since the last time I saw the original Mad Max, so while I had some small familiar snapshots that popped up in my mind I really didn't recall much in terms of tone and pacing. With the imagery of the new film blasting through my brain, I was anticipating the mania, the terror, and the dystopian aesthetic, and while there is a bit of all of those things in Mad Max, it was a much more quiet and measured cinematic experience than I assumed it would be. 

Society is beginning to fall apart in the world originally built by director George Miller, but it isn't complete and utter chaos as of yet, just the start of it trending in that direction. Max Rockatansky is a police officer but he is also a peaceful, happy man, one with a wife and an infant son. When his family is threatened, Max starts to get a little unhinged. When tragedy occurs at the hands of a biker gang, Max transforms into something else entirely. He puts on his leather police gear, jumps into his bad ass car and begins his furious pursuit of revenge. Max has a thirst and the only thing that can quench it is the blood of those who took so much from him. Max is mad.

Mad Max is fast paced and incredibly entertaining, but the film falls short in two ways for me: one, the bad guy gang of motorcycle men just don't feel bad enough. Their actions are clearly deplorable but their on screen personas don't intimidate me the way I thought they would. There is no charisma from their characters, nothing to make them interesting beyond the fact that we know they are evil and we want them to die for it.

The other issue I have with Mad Max is that I actually find it to be too fast paced for me. For much of the film, the story moves at a sublime rhythm and I appreciated the quiet and meaningful moments that developed characters, but then when it was time for the revenge to be dished out cold, the justice delivered by Max felt as if it was moving in fast forward. I wanted to soak in his anger and I wanted to bask in his rage, but instead they cram all of the violence we would actually root for as an audience into about 15 minutes of screen time. It just moves so quickly I felt like I couldn't really enjoy it. 

Despite these qualms, I am a big fan of Mad Max and am excited to revisit The Road Warrior soon.

3.5/5

10 Most Anticipated Films March - June

As the weather begins to warm up, so does the season of cinema. While the second half of the year always features a far more interesting slate of films overall, that doesn't mean some truly special gems aren't released before July.

Here are the 10 movies I am most excited about that will hit theaters between now and the end of June.

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Directed by Nathan Zellner

Starring Rinko Kikuchi

U.S. Release Date: March 18th

A film based on an urban legend surrounding the real life and death of Takako Konishi, as the media falsely reported that she died while on a quest to find the missing money buried near the end of the film Fargo. In actuality Konishi killed herself, but the fictionalized version of events is far more interesting and cinematic than reality. Reviews are pretty outstanding for this one, and I can't wait to see it.

Clouds of Sils Maria

Directed by Olivier Assayas

Starring Kristen Stewart, Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace Moretz

U.S. Release Date: April 10th

Unfortunately, a common reaction when many people see the cast listing will be to write this film off because of the presence of Kristen Stewart. Insert Twilight jokes, comments about her personal life, whatever. The truth is, with the right material she can certainly act and apparently that is the case here. Why do I say that? Well, she recently won the Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance here in France. Not only is this a prestigious award, it's especially significant because Stewart is the FIRST American actress to ever win one. So yeah, safe to say I am excited to see this film.

Lost River

Directed by Ryan Gosling

Starring Christina Hendricks, Matt Smith, Eva Mendes, Saorise Ronan

U.S. Release Date: April 10th

Reviews for Lost River have been almost universally terrible and it was booed viciously at the Cannes Film Festival last year. So why do I have it on my most anticipated list? Because I don't care, I want to see it for myself and make up my own mind. The directorial debut by Ryan Gosling, word is this film was heavily and noticeably influenced by David Lynch and Nicolas Winding Refn, which makes me intrigued to say the least. 

A couple of years ago, people kept talking about how terrible Only God Forgives by Refn was. It was angrily booed at Cannes and the negative reviews came pouring in. In my opinion, it was one of the finest films of the year. So yeah, Lost River may be terrible, but I need to make up my own mind.

Ex Machina

Directed by Alex Garland

Starring Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac

U.S. Release Date: April 10th

Oh man do I love some good science fiction. I literally don't need to know anything from a project, just tell me it is well reviewed and science fiction and I will be there, and that is exactly the case here with Ex Machina. Critical reception has been fantastic, my boy Oscar Isaac is in it, and the writer/director Alex Garland previously wrote 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Never Let Me Go. Count me in.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Directed by Joss Whedon

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, James Spader, Paul Bettany

U.S. Release Date: May 1st

What really needs to be said? The first Avengers film was, in my opinion, the first truly excellent thing to come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, until 2014 rolled around and both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy exceeded it. Those are the last two films to be released before Age of Ultron, so yeah, expectations are through the roof.

Far From the Madding Crowd

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg

Starring Carrie Mulligan, Michael Sheen, Juno Temple, Matthias Schoenaerts, Tom Sturridge

U.S. Release Date: May 1st

Talk about jumping in the complete opposite direction of Age of Ultron, and with the same release date no less. I read Thomas Hardy's novel of the same name, which was published roughly 140 years ago, and I liked it but was underwhelmed. Despite this, I am very excited to see this film adaptation. Why? Director Thomas Vinterberg's last work was The Hunt from 2013, which was without a doubt one of the greatest films from that year, so I was going to be excited about whatever he did next. Plus, I'm a fan of Carrie Mulligan, a pretty extraordinary actress. So while I will be seeing Avengers on the biggest screen possible that weekend, Far From the Madding Crowd won't be far behind.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Directed by George Miller

Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

U.S. Release Date: May 15th

While on my list because of the outstanding trailer, Mad Max: Fury Road is the first film on this list I am truly skeptical about. I can't shake that amazing trailer, disappointing film overall feeling, but I am hoping for the best. Regardless, I'm sure this will be a pretty spectacular sight on the big screen, and I hope it lives up to the footage we have seen thus far.

Tomorrowland

Directed by Brad Bird

Starring Britt Robertson, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie

U.S. Release Date: May 22nd

An intriguing trailer, a summer slice of science fiction that I can see with my very excited daughter, and Brad Bird. Enough said, I will be there.

Jurassic World

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard

U.S. Release Date: June 12th

Much like Mad Max: Fury Road, I approach Jurassic World with what can best be described as highly excited pessimism. I am going to see it, I really want to see it, and I hope it is great, but I just can't shake the bad feeling it will be a dud. Excited that Colin Trevorrow is at the helm here as I loved his previous feature film Safety Not Guaranteed, and much like most of the planet right now, I'm a big fan of Chris Pratt, so I am hoping for the best. 

Inside Out

Directed by Pete Docter

Starring Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Kyle Maclachlan, Diane Lane

U.S. Release Date: June 19th

The world needs a truly great Pixar film. I have not hated anything they have done, including the Cars films which do what they intend to for their target audience, but it has been years since the glory days of a studio that released animated masterpieces annually. I have big expectations for Inside Out and will be severely disappointed if it ends up merely being "good. This one needs to be something special, and the first couple of trailers indicate it has the potential to be just that.

I'm sure a few of these ten films will be disappointing, but obviously I will hope for the best across the board. Here's to an exciting and highly anticipated next few months of cinema!