Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Director: George Miller
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

Synopsis:
Imperator Furiosa, a lieutenant of the tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe, seeks to liberate his captive wives and finds an unlikely ally in a drifter called Max.

Impressions:
There's a lot of hype around this movie, but I'll admit to having no really strong feelings going into it. It's a shame to say it, but the movie really didn't click with me. That being said, I still think it's worth seeing and even though I didn't really connect with the film, it had a lot going for it that I did like. I'm a pretty big fan of action movies, but I honestly felt like it was too much vehicular carnage that it all seemed to blend together. I didn't bond much with the characters either, though I will admit to having a bit of a soft spot for the ship teasing of Capable with Nux. On an aesthetic level, the designs are interesting, from Immortan Joe to the skeletal War Boys to all the wild and crazy vehicular monstrosities. I certainly like that a large part of the effects were practical and I have to give credit to the actresses playing the elderly Vuvalini for doing their own stuntwork.

There was a fair bit of sound and fury on the Net about the feminist bent of the story, both in the positive and the negative sense. It's not a debate I wish to get into. Allegedly George Miller didn't have the intention in mind when he wrote the story, but it does seem to be a little agenda-driven. Whether you're on board for that agenda or not and your reasons for it are entirely your own business. You may not like that Max is practically a secondary character in a movie that bears his name and you may find it consistent for him to simply be caught up in the latest chaos that flares up around him.

In conclusion, I'm not going to let my tepid reception of the film get in the way of recommending others give it a shot. Even if you don't like some aspects of it, there's probably still something you'll like about it, enough to warrant the viewing, I'd wager.

Rating:
Watch It