Jake’s review published on Letterboxd:
Well, I finally did it. After three years, more than twenty viewings, and countless hours listening to the soundtrack, I finally cracked. George Miller broke me.
Mad Max: Fury Road, made me cry.
Not a sob, not heavy, flowing tears, but I teared up and felt them roll down my cheeks. One in each eye. And of course, this just HAD to happen in the middle of my film studies class. (Thankfully the room was dark and everyone was so enraptured by the film, I don't think anyone noticed)
Mad Max: Fury Road was my favorite movie of 2015. Far and away. I saw it earlier in the year when it was released, and it was the only time I was ever right about predicting what movie would be my film of the year. In 2016 it went back and forth four or five times, in 2017 it was battling between two movies until one remained the victor, but not even Star Wars had a chance of dethroning Fury Road for my top spot. In my senior year of high school, I torrented the movie (after buying it on Blu Ray, don't yell at me) with the sole purpose of putting it on my phone so I could watch it (and other movies) during my free period. It sits comfortably in my top 20 and is without question, my favorite straight-up action film. But hey, I'm not special, everybody and their mother loves this damn movie. So, now, after my sudden emotional reaction to the film which I can only assume was spurred on by the fact that I haven't seen it in a while, thus upping its potency, I will transport myself back to 2015, right after I left the theater...
Mad Max: Fury Road is a movie that really has no right to exist. George Miller, long may he reign, made his automotive apocalyptic Australia trilogy back in the 1980s, and as successful as they were in his native country and in the US, they could only really ever be called cult classics. And... well... I have a confession to make. I watched the trilogy before Fury Road's release to prepare myself, and... yeah look I'll be straight, they don't even compare. I love me a good, dirty, hard-boiled 80s bone-cruncher just as much as anyone else, but the Mad Max movies have only ever been 'pretty good'. The first movie is a stripped back revenge thriller that has no revenge until the final 20 minutes, and to top it off, wasn't all that thrilling. The pacing and structure just had nothing to them and made the film feel kinda empty and bloated, and even when things kick into high gear and Max really does get 'Mad', it's honestly more somber than it is entertaining. The Road Warrior, for as influential and ahead of its time as it was, can only ever be compared against Fury Road, as they are similarly structured, it's just that it lacks the obvious stylistic flourishes that Miller added to the most recent entry. And as for Thunderdome? I dunno, everyone shits on that one but I like it cause it's goofy and weird, at least it didn't bore me. But it's definitely more of an 80's action movie than it is a Mad Max movie.
And then... George Miller made Babe. And Happy Feet. And Happy Feet 2.
So my only assumption here can be that because of his work on children's films (that are pretty good, by the way) he was then able to pursue his passion project. He had been building the cars and rigs used for Fury Road years ago, and somehow, along the way, became a master craftsman when it comes to action. Fury Road is not devoid of the more 'rough' filmmaking edges that define movies like this, but here it's done with the hand of auteur. Every frame of this movie feels like it was made by someone who really gives a damn about what they do. The film is shot primarily by using center-framing, and paired with the editing, via George Miller's wife, make this a shot of adrenaline that still manages to not overwhelm or overstimulate you. This movie guides you along and it's story beats and structure are as smooth as a lullaby. In two video essays called 'Planting and Payoff' and 'How the Three Act Screenplay Works (and why it matters)' both by Lindsay Ellis, she demonstrates how flawlessly the film structures itself, and utilizes elements of filmmaking such as Chekov's gun to guide and ease the audience so that nothing ever feels abrupt or out of place, the storytelling here is simple, effective, visual, and done with minimal exposition, so essentially, everything a film should be. It is a visual medium, after all, and action films should be, by definition, simple, even though that's not often the case. This movie is a film first, and an action film second, but luckily for us, the film never STOPS being an action film.
There is usually one slower paced scene to break up the intensity between bombastic blasts of violence, but other than that, the film doesn't stop moving. It really is one long extended chase, and as such, it thrives under this simplicity. Don't mistake that for stupidity, mind you, the actual character and plot beats of this movie are so beautifully executed you barely notice that they even happen, as pointed it out in Ms. Ellis's essays. There is simply nothing that contrives it's way into the movie, it tells you who the players are, establishes the stakes, and quite literally, runs with it until it's out of gas. How a movie like this feels well-paced is absolutely beyond me, and how the actual narrative arc is kept in tact, I'll probably never know. When you really think about the filmmaking here, the more marvelous it becomes. Take one element of the movie, the continuity of the cars. Can you IMAGINE how difficult it was to make sure these rigs and vehicles remained in the right places between shots and cuts, and choreographing the action from different angles? But George Miller comes in and makes it looks absolutely flawless, like anybody could do it. The fact that this movie has characters you actually give a damn about coupled with a smartly told yet simple story just feels like icing on the cake.
Max has never been the center of his films. The first movie doesn't develop him until the end, the second film shows that he's a hapless player in a game he really has no stakes in, and Thunderdome is just... Thunderdome. This movie we see Max is a world-weary traveler who relies on no one because he's afraid to lose anyone else. You really gotta love how this makes Fury Road work as it's own film AND as a sequel, and in doing both, pretty much says 'just focus on the movie, dummy, don't worry about continuity'. The real star here is of course, Charlize Theron as Furiosa. First of all, to the people who say this film is flawed because 'Max isn't the main character of his own film', would you kindly sod off? Max has never been the main character in any of his films. He's a traveler that comes across more interesting happenings and gets entangled in the struggles of others, it has always been this way, and here it's no different. Except, this time, there's some real emotional weight here. There's a bond forged through survival for the sake of hope. Max's arc is similar to the arc Finn has in the Last Jedi, now that I think about it. He discovers a reason to be a part of something bigger. It shows us that he may be mad, but he's still human, doing more for his character than any of the other films. Secondly, the humanity of this film comes from Furiosa. The movie simply can't work without her. She's an essential cog in this machine. The moment I ended up crying was the moment where she realizes she basically went to all this trouble to discover it was all for naught, and I don't know, something about this viewing made that hit hard for me. This woman was forcibly taken from her home, shoved into a society that was bloodthirsty and toxic, spent her life alone for decades to have this ONE chance to get back what was taken from her, so much so that she's counted it TO THE DAY, and finds out her hope was only for something that has long since been lost. The film is unexpectedly somber at the second act low-point, and this emotional gut-punch is just so effective, especially when you consider the acting jobs of everyone involved. They have to sell these performances with minimal line delivery and mostly just facial expressions, and by God do they do it well.
I would be remissed to talk about this movie and not talk about some of the more subtextual elements, mainly the subversion of the leading man action hero and feminist themes, which I know some people roll their eyes at, but honestly, if this kinda shit bothers you, grow the fuck up. Every movie has ideas. Every movie has politics, and no, a movie taking a stance politically doesn't make it worse, or make it preachy. Politics are baked into the identity of every human on this planet, and films are distillations and constructs of conflicts and issues, any struggle in any film says something about who it was made by, how it was made, or when it was made. And honestly, the mere subversion of the hero archetype isn't what I find interesting, though I do appreciate it. If we get more simple yet effective heroes in the form of Furiosa, then I am a happy camper, but the film itself is smarter than just this one subversion. So, here's the deal, the film is about toxic masculinity, and it's not subtle about it. One of the villains is literally named 'Rictus Erectus' for God's sake. The in-universe insults characters used are slang for male genitalia. The group of women who Furiosa finds are called the 'Vuvalini' (re-arrange the letters, you'll figure it out) and the little details for this are intentional. The villain in this, Immortan Joe, is a patriarchal dictator. Just look at how he's introduced, a disgusting pile of flesh that's held together by mechanical apparatus, and is eventually given a chestplate that has abs spraypainted on it alongside war medals. We immediately realize the things this character finds valuable, percieved strength, and honor-culture. His war boys worship him like a god, and constantly ramble on about 'Valhalla' and encourage suicide in the name of their glory, an obvious take on patriarchal religious practices. He views his wives as his 'property', one of my favorite moments of dialogue in the film is when Nux asks a fellow war-boy what's happening, and his answer is 'She stole some stuff from Joe. His breeders.' subtly implying that women are nothing more than 'stuff'. Then of course there are the women Furiosa finds, wholesome guardians who rely on intelligence more than strength, harbingers of 'the green place', one of them even carrying seeds with her, playing on the whole 'mother nature' and life-giving female roles. Even the wives in the film, characters who on a textural level serve no other purpose than to be angelic-looking hot girls show us the type of women that a patriarchal society would objectify. They have their own agency, their own roles to play in the film.
My favorite part about the feminist undertones is the often-missed message of the film. I think this is partially due to the attitude of 'what? This awesome action movie had a message?' as well as thinking it's really just a fairy tale about not being an evil dictator and working together, which is somewhat understandable, but when you look at how the film is structured, you find a bit of real genius. I've seen people complain that the third act is just them going back the way they came, and that's a fairly 'whatever'-tier level complaint (seriously guys, they're in a desert, it doesn't matter where they go; it's probably gonna look the same no matter what) that misses the point. The women in this story flee the patriarchal society that objectifies them and treats them like 'things', which is pretty loaded as is. But the real genius is how the film plays out, with the help of Max (which I think is meant to represent a unification of both men and women by their co-operation), they decide the best decision isn't to flee the patriarchy, but to go BACK and CONQUER it instead. And honestly? That's not just an interesting message, that's straight up poigniant.
You know, the only thing about Mad Max Fury Road that bothers me is that the stars so perfectly aligned with it, that I don't think I'll ever get another movie quite like this in my lifetime. A movie this confident, with just the right mixture, the right energy, the right weight, and most importantly, the right soul and voice. This is a tentpole film, a movie people will talk about for decades and celebrate from years to come. This kind of high-octane movie is rare enough on it's own, but what separates it from say, movies like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT, is definitely the soul. Summer blockbusters will always have their place, and I commend those movies when they're fun and well-made, but this? This right here? This is an auteur, almost art-house action film in disguise. This is the magic of moviemaking at it's biggest, grandest, and most energetic scale, and while I may not ever get a movie like it again, I'm grateful enough to just have this one anyway.
