It’s been eight years since I watched Fury Road in the cinema. But the new trailer for Furiosa got my Mad Max engine revving. With many people now holding it up as one of the best action films of the 2010s I had to revisit it.
And you know, they’re right. This film is bloody mental in the best way.
There isn’t much dialogue and there isn’t loads of story. In the vein of the original trilogy, there are cars, wasteland, crazy clothes, and now more than one hero. It’s unlike anything else. Maybe half the film is running at the standard 24 frames per second. Director George Miller wants the audience to always know exactly what’s going on, so the frame is always centered on the action, and he adjusts the framerate to make it just understandable. At times it’s almost cartoonish, which is fitting for the vehicular mayhem that occurs. From massive trucks to cars on top of cars, it’s ridiculous! And it’s so cool. That’s not even mentioning things like a guy a who just plays a flamethrower guitar. It’s all kicking off and he’s just playing. Hero.
I love continuity and things lining up. But for these films I’ve had to let it go. Even trying to figure out a loose thread is iffy past them happening in release order. Best to just enjoy each story as a kind of campfire tale. Something passed from person to person. Maybe it happened. It probably did. Was it so big and crazy? Maybe! Max himself constantly struggles between wanting to be alone, and being a fundamentally good guy. It’s a stoic stance, backed by Hardy’s sheer charisma and voice, that allows others to take the limelight.
Which is great when you have standout performances from Charlize Theron and Nicholas Holt.
Fury Road is entirely it’s own thing. Describing it as an action film doesn’t feel right. As though it doesn’t do it justice. A tale of feminist vehicular mayhem? Hm. I didn’t appreciate this film enough eight years ago. Perhaps I’ll try to describe it again in another eight years.
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