Max Rockatansky rides hard on the roads of the future wasteland in the film Mad Max-Fury Road. Director George Miller first introduced us to this world and the title character, originally played by Mel Gibson in 1979. At first, he was a hard driving police officer struggling to maintain law and order in a civilization and world crumbling about him. But when he lost his family to a criminal bike gang lead by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the little thread he was hanging onto inside snaps. Max takes vengeance upon Toecutter's gang and is seen at the end of the original Mad Max driving furiously, seemingly to nowhere, as directionless as his life has become. The subsequent films, The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome saw him wandering still, alone, stumbling into interesting situations that force him to engage with people that he otherwise would probably avoid.
This brings us to Fury Road. Max, now played by Tom Hardy, still wanders the wasteland, still alone. He seems to be an empty shell of a man, purely driven by a spirit that does not allow him to accept death. He survives to survive and seemingly little more. He is a silent wanderer who keeps to himself, unless crossed. Then he explodes into a maelstrom of struggle, determined to extricate himself from whatever has beset his void girded vigil and return to his emptiness, it would seem. For little else seems to motivate him. The wasteland is an empty, wan, lonely and seemingly dying place. But like Max's soul, it has a fierceness at the center and a determination to go on. And where that continuance takes hold, there is potential for growth anew and hope, though the world and Max may not be aware of this.
So when he is beset by the Warboys of Immorten Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrn again), he at first reacts in his usual manner, fierce determination to survive and escape. But when in the course of events he comes in contact with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a female combat driver in service to Immorten Joe, his guard over time slowly begins to lower and he begins to actively acknowledge the world outside himself once again. Furiosa has her own agenda. She has stolen a War Rig (think souped up 18 wheeler) and is making off with Joe's Brides (women who serve only as baby makers to produce War Boys). She can't have children herself, yet her ability has made her one of the few female warriors in Joe's community. At some point, though, she decided that was not enough and that she needed to try to return to her people, a tribe of women in the fabled "Green Land".
Along with a feral yet somewhat good natured War Boy named Nux, Max makes common cause with this motley crew and finds the possibility of human connection that he has not known in a very long time.
The visuals of Fury Road are lush, the design work, especially on the vehicles are inspired and insane and the action is quite fast and furious. The characters are colorful, over the top and understated as the story requires. Tom Hardy, especially, does Mel Gibson proud in his turn as Max Rockatansky. Immorten Joe is a menacing, colorful dictator in the true wasteland warlord tradition. And then there's Charlize Theron's Furiosa. She is a competent, level headed, formidable female warrior geared for surviving the wasteland. But she has ideals and faith that the world has not killed and she is willing to fight for them. Also, refreshingly, there is no romantic subplot between the male and female leads, that is, her and Max.
Some have called this a triumph for feminism. I disagree. I think it is more due to the vision of George Miller and his unwillingness to buy into cheap Hollywood cliches. If some find that in line with the political ideologies, more power to them, I guess. But for me as a storyteller myself, I'm glad to see that Miller's first loyalties are to his own instincts as a creator, rather than to audience surveys, corporate bean counters and the like. Like Max, he drives on in the direction he wants to go.
Very good time at the cinema. You should drive there quickly. But observe traffic and vehicular safety, please.
I don't know about you, but I've had plenty of very attractive female friends whom I did not have romantic leanings toward. It's very well possible to be riding along with a Theron-esque beauty and not feel that way for her. Entirely possible -- though our culture likes to encourage us to take every opportunity we can to score. Chemistry's a strange, complex thing, man.
ReplyDeleteWell, we will notice their attraction in a manly way, as I'm sure Max did, once he busted out of his fugue and began to trust her. But the idea that their storyline MUST veer into romance in traditional Hollywood and the fact that George Miller said screw that is refreshing.
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