Mad Max: Fury Road

Apocalyptic films are typically based in a grim future, hence the word apocalyptic, but they are usually in desolate locales with next-to-impossible living conditions, i.e. "The Book of Eli", "Elysium", "The Omega Man", "Divergent" to mention a few. I suppose if they are located in an urban area, it wouldn't look so obvious hellish. This is a remake of a franchise based basically in the early 80's and where most remakes are lackluster at best, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is one that truly finds its niche a healthy 30 years later.

This is an apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed, fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exists two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max (Tom Hardy), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland. Their main obstacle? One crude and violent leader of all the populace of the area--Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his henchmen including Nux (Nicholas Hoult) and Slit (Josh Helman).

Others to round out the cast are Nathan Jones as Rictus Erectus, Zoe Kravitz as Toast The Knowing, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as The Splendid Angharad, Riley Keough as Capable, Abbey Lee as The Dag, Courtney Eaton as Cheedo the Fragile, John Howard as The People Eater, Richard Carter as The Bullet Farmer, iota as The Doof Warrior and Angus Sampson as The Organic Mechanic.

This was directed by the comparable George Miller ("Mad Max" '79, "Mad Max: The Road Warrior" '81, "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" '85, "The Witches of Eastwick" '87, "Lorenzo's Oil" '92, "40,000 Years of Dreaming" (TV movie documentary) '97, "Babe: Pig in the City" '98, "Happy Feet" '06, "Happy Feet Two" '11). One can respect this kind of filmmaker, if for no other reason than that of his ability to create his projects is a very slick, precise way that usually hits you like a ton of bricks. He lets his crew do what they do best, for example, the photography by John Searle, asc/acs and the editing by Margaret Sixel blended effortlessly together--again the slickness of it. This is clearly great collaborating by Miller. It was written by Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris based on characters created by Miller. As I mentioned above, this is one of those few remakes that actually worked. This was grittier, slicker, much more intense than its predecessors, and with these elements, it was a sight to behold. With limited dialogue and increased action with amazing visuals, and stunts that looked surreal, these writers made this rendition of the franchise rock!

Whether one is a Mad Max fan or not, this is pure fantasy at its finest that all can get something out of. It's a crude, rude assessment of humanity that's done so over-the-top and in an incredible 3D format where we see people going...well Mad.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                 Rated: R                                  120mins.