Nik Lackey’s review published on Letterboxd:
“I am the scales of Justice! Conductor of the choir of death! Sing brother heckler! Sing brother koch! Sing brothers! Sing! Sing!”
What an absolutely incredible line of dialogue, being played with a symphonic score that swells up the whole screen. Imagery is the most important thing to this film, and imagery delivers with scenes like this. ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015) refuses to let up on any amount of action, and at the end of the day, this is one dense and drenched film. This is the type of cinema that all men look for when it comes to action, however, it only comes once in a blue moon. This is action for actions sake, and we are all welcome for the ride.
First off, let’s just explaine how calculated and specific this entire film is. Everything from the main characters like Imperator Furiosa and Max Rockatansky, all the way to single characters like The Doof Warrior, everyone has their story. The villains are full and angry, with characters like Immortan Joe, The Bullet Farmer, and The People Eater, each name carries a real title aligned with it. Nolan matter what is happening on the screen with all of these characters, there is always something in the background that is occurring that might be just as interesting. Miller is a master of his craft, and characterization like this is one of his fortes.
I’m not saying anything new here when I talk about how massive in scale this film truly is. This is the type of film that needs to be on a big screen, because the sheer magnitude of what is occurring is just so much. The stunts are wild and over the top, with things done in cinema that I never thought could be done. We see action from start to finish, and it is one breathtaking journey. I am just utterly amazing, even on this rewatch, how everything is done. It’s loads of fun to see a movie and actually watch how they made it, and this movie is by far one of the best films to see for that. This is the peak of creative cinema, and it revolutionized everything.
George Miller is a mad man and a scholar, with his hold on the entire Mad Max franchise, he manages to revisualizes and create some of the most compelling cinema around. At age 70, he managed to take this excruciating time to film in the middle of the Australian desert. Then at 79, he did it again on a larger scale. I don’t know how this man can even do things like this, but the quality on got better. There is no sense of hesitation on his discussion making. And his vision is fully played out. Thanks to George Miller, we have some of the great cinema of all time.
This is the definition of a rewatchable film. I threw this on again, because I had a few parts stuck in my head, but then the movie hooked me right away and I sat through the whole thing again. I could pick up anywhere in this film and I can get hooked. All of the action is so compact into a two hour film, that no matter where you land, it’s going to be a scene full of gorgeous imagery, and incredible sound mixing, with too notch editing, and a whole lot of action. This truly is what it means to be an action film, and a cinematic classic. If any movie has the power to be remarkably rewatchable, it’s this film right here.
I can’t believe I rewatched ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015) again this close to when I rewatched it before. This is just some stunning cinema, with some incredible story. If you think you’re not an action movie guy, you still need to give this a shot, because this is one incredible work of art. We all need to thank George Miller for what he has done for the world of movies, and how this changes the perspective of what film can truly be. I love this movie so much, and I cannot wait to rewatch this yet again, a million more times.
