Film: "Mad Max Road Fury"; Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas
Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe
Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, John
Howard, Richard Carter, Angus Sampson, Jennifer Hagan, Megan Gale,
Melissa Jaffer, Melita Jurisic, Gillian Jones, Joy Smithers; Director:
George Miller; Rating: ***
Crammed with numerous characters and
projected on an epic scale "Mad Max: Fury Road" is an action packed,
escapist road film. It is the fourth film by George Miller in the "Mad
Max" series that comes exactly thirty years after the last one, "Beyond
Thunderdome".
"Fury Road" takes off from where its last franchise
left. Set in the distant future in an imaginatively, dystopian
civilization Max (Tom Hardy), a survivor from the apocalypse in "Beyond
Thunderdome", is captured by the Kamakrazee War Boys, the army of the
tyrannical cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). He is designated
as a universal blood donor and is used as a blood bag for the sick War
Boy, Nux (Nicholas Hoult).
Meanwhile, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize
Theron) drives her heavily armoured War Rig to collect gasoline.
Mid-way, all of a sudden, she takes a detour, alerting Joe who realizes
that his five wives who were specially selected for breeding have
escaped his clutches.
Joe leads his entire War Boy army in
pursuit of Furiosa, calling on the aid of nearby Gas Town and Bullet
Farm. Nux wanting to die a historic death, joins the army with Max
strapped to the hood of his car, to continue supplying blood. A battle
ensues between Joe's forces and Furiosa's team. During the combat,
Furiosa drives into an approaching sand storm to evade her pursuers.
Nux
wanting to sacrifice himself follows her. In the sandstorm his car
crashes and gets damaged, Max escapes. At a distance Max sees Furiosa
repairing her Rig and she is accompanied by Joe's wives. He steals the
Rig, but is unable to operate it. So he is forced to join hands with
Furiosa and Joe's wives, who are on the run in the "hope of reaching the
Green Landa and "redemption."
They are chased not only by Joe
but by the Gas Boys and Bullet Farmers across a sandy desert, a barren
ravine and swamps. Their journey, that stretches nearly three fourths of
the film is laden with ballistic adventures.
Keeping with the
times and the pace of the film, Director Millers has replaced Mel Gibson
for the younger, dynamic Tom Hardy, who plays Max with sincerity. Mel
had featured in the previous three editions.
Charlize Theron as
Furiosa emits raw emotions. She is agile and brilliant, as the one hand
amputee on the run. Similarly, Nicholas Hoult as Nux is appealing.
The
action sequences are well choreographed. With a blend of wide angle
shots and close ups, cinematographer John Seale's camera captures the
film in minute detail. And his anamorphic frames seamlessly merge with
computer generated images. The 3D effects combined with the adrenaline
boosting sound effects amp the viewing experience.
Compared to
its previous editions, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is the director's most
ambitious project which is mounted on a grand production scale which
consists of a massive crowd, humungous sets and exhilarating tempo.
Certain scenes bear the look and
