It’s great to see this Eighties franchise return and with a vengeance. I’ve always loved Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Mad Max slow patches and all. Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome has never held up, it was a terrible preview of the first Bush presidency…a lamer, gentler post-apocalyptic world. Sure 3 has memorable, iconic moments that live on in popular culture: “Two men enter, one man leave!”, Master Blaster and Eighties musical retrospectives with the forgettable Tina Turner song. Well, with Fury (aka Mad Max 4), George Miller and the gang remember to include a key element which made the first two a success, high-speed car chases/battles. Next to Max, the weird, tricked-out, weaponized cars are the supporting stars.
For starters, I doubt Fury is a reboot, I think this is another chapter in Max’s adventures in Australia after everything hit the fan. My hypothesis doesn’t explain how the hero got his trademarked V-8 Intercepter back; it was destroyed in Warrior. Still, more time has passed as weirder new “civilizations” have become entrenched, namely the one led by Max’s nemesis Immortan Joe; played by the old fan favorite Hugh Keays-Byrne who was Toecutter in the first movie! I will always love Lord Humongous first but Joe comes close for being really gross and clever.
I’m not going to give away the key plot, you have to see what kind of mess Max is sucked into. Those who like these movies want to be surprised. Others won’t bother. I will say it was executed well. Post-Apocalyptic movies aren’t going to dwell on Shakespearean or Mamet-level dialog, civilization as we know it died, it’s amazing humans haven’t completely reverted to grunting. The level of violence is going to earn it an R rating too; resources like water, energy, bullets and food will determine who lives and dies. Sadly, an R is the kiss of death in America. Theaters have clamped down on the age-appropriate attendance rating since the Nineties and PG-13 gave Hollywood the wiggle room it lacked for previous movies which are rather tame by today’s standards (The Exorcist, The Godfather, Beverly Hills Cop, Stripes and M.A.S.H.).
Lastly, the whole feminist crap argument? I’m only give it any oxygen by saying, I didn’t see it and I didn’t care. Charlize Theron did a great job as Furiosa, a tough as nails driver-warrior. Mrs. Theron has a solid resume in the the parent Sci-Fi genre: Prometheus, Hancock, Aeon Flux and Mighty Joe Young, thus her casting by the producers/directors was absolutely perfect.
Back to the point. If you’re a fan of the past films and/or the Post-Apocalyptic genre, you will be pleased with Max’s return.
Alamo Extras: Trailers for Texas Gladiators 2020, Striker, Midnite Spares (Aussie comedy involving a car theft ring), Dead-End Drive-In (Aussie flick), 2019, Stunt Rock, Warrior of the Lost World (I’ve seen this on MST3K) and The New Barbarians; clips from an Aussie documentary about a local stunt/demolition show; Leonard Maltin discussing the appeal of the first two Mad Max films; and a clip from Never Too Young To Die which contained an incredible stunt of a convertible driving under an 18-wheeler to get cover from a pair of biker thugs.