Mad Max: Fury Road
Amy Hensarling

Review by Amy Hensarling Patron

Mad Max: Fury Road 2015

★★★½

Watched 19 Jul 2022

I’ve no idea how to review this. Wrote several paragraphs comparing George Miller to Bo Burnham (you’re welcome for sparing you that), and then determined it wasn’t getting at what I really want to say. 

Here’s what I want to say.

George Miller is fascinating. On directing both the Mad Max series and family movies, he said, quote: 

People do look at me weirdly. Even my mother said, "When you started making the Babes and Happy Feets I thought you were calming down, in some way.” But when she saw the latest, Fury Road, she said, "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head."

Who is he? What drives him? Where did his vision come from? What impression does he want to instill? Ultimately, I’m far more interested in *why* this movie exists than *that* it exists. Some films make you wish you could sit down with the director and pick their brain. Others make you wish the director would stop jerking off to their own wavelength and get a grip.

Mad Max: Fury Road is in the former camp. There’s true artistry here. Real care. Innovation. Inspiration. Sure, it’s glorified action, but there’s a sense that Miller sacrificed his entire heart & soul on the altar of entertainment. Not just gratuitous aggrandizing. A go-for-broke intentional aim. Doesn’t matter if it’s my personal definition of peak cinema. Miller’s a madman who deserves a deeper look.

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