THE HATEFUL EIGHT is my favorite film of 2015, but tomorrow is a new day so that means MAD MAX FURY ROAD will probably become my favorite. By weeks end it'll be STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS. That's how much I loved those films last year! But in all seriousness, MAD MAX FURY ROAD was the best film of 2015.
Ever since MAD MAX 2, otherwise known as THE ROAD WARRIOR the plot of the films have pretty much always been the same. Max starts out only looking after numero uno, himself. But eventually he always comes across of folks that could use some help. He winds up doing only the bare minimum, at first. Then trouble comes along and he can't help but to always give the oppressed a helping hand.
The biggest thing I heard from people was how does MAD MAX FURY ROAD fit in with the other films? The answer is simple, it doesn't. All the sequels to MAD MAX are essentially the same movie. Each film is it's own myth about the legend of a man named Max Rockatansky, road warrior of the Wasteland.
In this latest tale, Max is taken prisoner and used as a blood bag in the Citadel. The ruler of the Citadel is the nefarious Immortan Joe. On a routine trip to Gas Town, Immortan Joe sends his most trusted lieutenant, Imperator Furiosa. She has plans of her own and travels off course in the Wastland. Immediately, Joe send his Warboys after her. Warboys are radiated soldiers willing to die for their king.
Max is a blood bag for a Warboy named Nux. After some of the best car stunts and straight up action I've seen in years, Max and Nux end up helping Furiosa with her mission. Freeing the wives of Immortan Joe.
Things heat up when Furiosa's secret rendezvous has dried up, literally. All hope seems lost until Max suggests going back the way they came. Back the way they came? It's crazy! With three factions chasing them down, and Max says they should go back and take over the Citadel. Furiosa decides to go back. The film isn't titled FURY ROAD for nothing!
Early on I knew director George Miller made something special. There is something old school about his film. I noticed what I would consider homages to METROPOLIS and the Westerns of John Ford. And be still my heart, the use of practical effects! Real cars smashing into real things, and dumb people driving them to! Stunt people aren't really dumb, they are probably as professional as you can get, but it does take a little bit of crazy to do what they do.
Which leads me to saying that MAD MAX FURY ROAD deserves to win every nomination it received at the Oscars this year.
There may be more Mad Max films on the way? Which I'm all for, only if Warner Bros lets George Miller have final cut. But if this was the last one, I'm okay with that as well. I'm just glad I got to see another adventure with Mad Max in the Wasteland.
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