Earlier today we brought along a new synopsis for George Miller’s can’t-wait-till-it-gets-here epic MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, starring Tom Hardy as the legendary post-apocalyptic badass. Well, here’s an additional treat: an early review of the film via a diehard MAD MAX fan. And it’s quite positive indeed!
As the reviewer, a chap named “Randy” from Action Figure Times, notes, the version of the film he witnessed was a rough cut, with sound and visual effects still missing, etc. That said, he seems fairly impressed by the flick, which he calls “bug-nuts crazy” and compares to THE ROAD WARRIOR… Would you like to know more?
This IS the kind of Mad Max II/The Road Warrior on steroids, go-big-or-go-home, bug-nuts crazy, toss-you-in-the-deep-end mythology and put-it-all-out-there-in-case-we-never-make-another-one Mad Max Fury Road.
This movie feels like thirty years of Miller holding in passion for a world that he built so long ago, exploding on the screen. You, remember the third act of The Road Warrior, the bad-ass truck chase that is still hailed as a masterpiece of filmmaking?
You do? Good.
Because that’s what this whole movie pretty much is-and it works! A chase that goes long and deep into the heart of Miller’s post-apocalyptic world, trying to get out of the Wasteland. It opens up and hardly slows down.
You want groovy cars? By the car-carrier load!
You want auto combat? Parts strewn for miles!
You want practical f/x and stunts? I wonder how many on the stunt team died making this madness?!This is movie designed for anyone to step into, neophyte or stone-cold Bronze. In a world of movies, tv and videogames that have used, borrowed, homages and/or stolen from the dark world of Mad Max, this film is informed by that media and incorporates it into this new vision three decades later.
There are nods back to all of the trilogy throughout, organic and purposeful, rather than placating a die-hard fanbase. Where does it play within the trilogy? Somewhere between the first and second… and off-to-the side.
Too long has passed to do a straight forward sequel. The iconic elements are there – its just how they are presented to you. But it isn’t a re-imagining, it isn’t a reboot. It’s simply its own model of vehicle.
There’s more to Randy’s review (read the whole thing HERE), but you get the idea: for at least one MAD MAX fanboy, this movie delivers on all fronts – and yet you don’t have to love the franchise to enjoy the ride. If I wasn’t excited enough for this action extravaganza already, I’m thoroughly pissin’ myself to get a look at it now.
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD opens May 15, 2015.
MAD MAX nemesis Charlize Theron