Some films try to reboot a classic and fail horribly. Not only did the filmmakers behind Mad Max: Fury Road make an incredible movie, but one that even surpasses the standards set by the originals.
But as much as the franchise owes it to this new movie for giving it life again, Fury Road also owes it to its past. Without those original ideas, we wouldn't have this film. No one would have had the guts to make this movie this day and age as an original idea. And honestly, if this film didn't already have an audience, it wouldn't have been made. It would have gotten a budget similar to Snowpiercer, and then the film wouldn't have been as effective as it is. Because nowadays in order to get $150 million to make a movie, you need some sort of franchise behind it--or the likes of a David Cameron or a Christopher Nolan. If Fury Road were an original concept, it would be groundbreaking and perhaps the most important action film of the last 20 years. But it turns out studios needed to see that it worked before signing off on this one.
But I'm glad that they did.
This time, Max (Tom Hardy) gets captured by a cult, led by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), who uses his blood to help a sick warrior, Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Along the way, Max crosses paths with one of the cult's workers, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), who rebels against her leader by smuggling his five breeding wives out of the cult in attempts to get them to freedom.
Hardy's Max is slightly different than Mel Gibson's from the original trilogy. We are with Gibson's character from the very beginning of his transformation and see him progress. We don't see that with Hardy's. He is animalistic from the very beginning and frankly not as lovable. On the other hand, when Gibson's character would get into that mode, it wouldn't be as big of a shock since we know how he usually acts.
The humor in this one is a lot more prevalent. But it's not like your typical Avengers-like action movie humor with one-liners and clever quips--it's a lot more dark and subtle, which makes you appreciate it more.
This is the action film that I've been waiting for. I had been getting tired of the same old cliched action films of the last few years. With a couple of exceptions, they're all starting to blend together. But Fury Road is anything but cliche. And in addition to that, it has some of the best action sequences I've seen in a very long time. It doesn't rely on chance or right-place-right-time in order for the heroes to survive. It's unpredictable and consistently exciting.
While it's not absolutely necessary to watch the original films before watching this one, it's definitely worth checking them out first. Mad Max: Fury Road is the best movie of 2015 so far.
Twizard Rating: 100
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