Feminist Fury: A "Mad Max: Fury Road" Review

“Where must we go…we who wander these wastelands in search of our better selves?”

-The First History Man

Now this is one movie that had me gripping on to my arm-rests and sitting on the edge of my seat for 2 hours. It hardly gave me enough time to sit back and calm my nerves, as I was bombarded with one hardcore action right after another, that I ended up wanting to become a machine-gun wielding drag-racer after I left the cinema.

In this installment of the original 1979 Mad Max film, Tom Hardy takes on the role of "Mad" Max Rockatansky, a survivor in a post-apocalyptic world where he was taken prisoner by a fanatical cult group led by Immortan Joe. Max gets his chance to escape when Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) tries to smuggle away Joe’s 5 wives to set them free. This leads to an action-packed road-chase that’s all about survival and finding home.

Mad Max Trailer

Intense Metal Action

I don’t even know where to start! The screenplay, hardcore action sequences, unique stunts, and outstanding acting performances were craftily married together with George Miller’s brilliant direction. The film was packed with scenes brimming with heart-pounding action and equally gripping stunts, making the movie feel like some extreme mashup of Death Race and Apocalypto.

It was an intense spectacle right after another. It’s amazing how Miller transformed the general setting from what supposedly was only a barren wasteland into a variety of terrains for different action sequences – like how you go through different stages of a computer game. The stunts and choreography were made even better with beautiful visuals that have vividness reminiscent of 300.

And don’t even get me started with how brilliant the performances of the lead cast are, especially Tom Hardy, who didn’t have much lines to deliver but still managed to do a great job with his grunts and mumbles. Each character has some sort of nice eccentricity in them which makes them interesting enough to even just look at, and gives the actors a bit more room to be creative with their performances.

Well, I don't think Tom Hardy really would be able to say much with that gag on.

A Race for Survival and a Search for Home

The central themes of the movie seemed to be that of humanity’s decay and environmental collapse, which is why the primary motivations of the characters are both survival and the search for home. The primary conflict comes from Furiosa’s longing to get back to her “Green Place”, and the five wives’ desire to find a better home for their children, away from the tyranny of Immortan Joe. This fuels their motivation to survive, going as far as facing Joe and his allies head-on despite the apparent futility of their plans.

Let's see how well Vin Diesel would do against these.

Feminist Fury

In spite of Max being the titular character, “Fury Road” seemed to have given more emphasis on Furiosa and the wives. Max ended up sharing the limelight with the ladies, and at some point even felt secondary to them.  The conflict, romance, and even a little bit of the action revolved around the women-characters that it’s not hard to see that the film wants to showcase the feminine strength with its plot. Even the “reinforcements” to Max’ convoy were women, and we were shown that despite of age, grandmas can still have some badass left in them. In the end, it was also the women who were redeemed and claimed victory over the Citadel.

Who run the world?

***

Mad Max: Fury Road was a visual spectacle coupled with explosive action.  This is one adrenaline-fueled film which will be definitely be enjoyed by thrill-seeking moviegoers.

 Credits to the images and videos used in this post go to "Mad Max: Fury Road" and/or to their respective owners. I do not own these materials. No copyright infringement intended.