Jack Denver’s review published on Letterboxd:
✅ 2nd Watch | 2015 Ranked | Mad Max Ranked
It was unfortunate Max never said, "I'm Max... and I'm mad."
In all seriousness however, Mad Max: Fury is without a doubt a thrilling action film that thrives off its stunning visuals and car sequences. However, that is all this sequel really is: A great action movie with imposing imagery. Fortunately, Mad Max: Fury Road is able to get away with the reality that its characters were poorly realized, the performances were mostly forgettable, the script was just one long car chase.
Students are very familiar with the idea of picking a few subjects to master from a large selection. They don't attempt to learn everything that their school has to offer, but rather specialize in subjects that relate to their interests. However, people seem to forget that movies can do the same thing. While screenwriting, production designing, scoring, acting, directing, choreography, cinematography, and editing are all "subjects" available to films, movies usually focus on a select few. Admittedly, films do require a more balanced quality than with a person's knowledge, but the principle that not all films need to perfect each aspect of filmmaking still applies. 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dunkirk are two of my favorite movies, but besides HAL 9000, those movies had a combined total of zero compelling characters. However, the absence of great characters in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dunkirk wasn't due to them failing their tests. Instead, they just didn't sign up for the class, because they knew that the class needed for those movies to succeed in the field. This same logic applies to Mad Max: Fury Road. Fury Road doesn't have a fantastic screenplay or memorable characters, but it does have incredible production design, cinematography, and action sequences. And to be honest, it works. Mad Max: Fury Road is a great film with plenty of entertainment to offer. However, do I believe good writing and characters were so unnecessary that the 2015 film could attain the first-place spot on the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Top 25 Movies of the Last 25 Years list? No.
With awkward flashbacks of Max's family [I think it's his family; it wasn't clear (which is another problem)], the film seems to be holding onto something that shouldn’t be in the film in the first place. I do understand that Fury Road is not just an action movie, but also a story of redemption for Max. However, the film never consistently focused on this aspect of the story, and whenever the film did, they mostly came through brief visions that only seemed to distract the story rather than actually develop it.
The acting also wasn’t that great. Tom Hardy was honestly a pretty forgettable lead, and the rest of the actors didn’t give memorable performances either. Furiosa was the only interesting character, but that was because of her backstory and major role in the story rather than the actress pulling the strings. As a result, it was a lot harder to actually care about the characters, which unfortunately made the ending a lot less satisfying.
This is also a pretty miniscule nitpick, but it was honestly kind of lame how George Miller would occasionally just put some clips at a higher speed. In the scene where Max tries to escape from the clan during the beginning of the movie, it felt like I was fast-forwarding through the scene. I know putting action clips at higher speeds has been applied numerous times throughout the existence of Hollywood, but what bugged me about this movie in particular was that it didn't even feel like there was any effort to hide it. As I said earlier, it's certainly a nitpick, but nonetheless it did bother me, ruining my immersion with an otherwise engrossing film.
"Is this some kind of fury road?
I don't hold Mad Max: Fury Road to the same regard as others do, but there is no denying just how epic the action-packed car chases are, which fortunately consists of most of the runtime. The Mad Max franchise is known for its thrilling car sequences, but none of the prior movies even lay on finger on Fury Road. The car-eography (car choreography) was excellent, and the sheer scale of the chase was captured perfectly thanks to the beautiful cinematography. Deserts in movies usually look bland and spiritless, but Fury Road's landscapes were vivid and electrifying, complementing the thrilling action scenes perfectly. And of course, the inclusion of the guitar player was the cherry on top. It's no wonder why Mad Max: Fury Road is considered to be one of the greatest action movies of all time.
In summary, while I feel there was definitely some room for improvement, there is no denying the scope and magnitude of this film with marvelous visuals and epic action sequences leading the way.
Also, I watched this for @MrPPeeps birthday, which was on the 16th. I was only able to write my review now.
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