Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper and a drifter named Max.
“As the world fell, each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy: me, or everyone else.” No better words describe the world of the Wasteland, a place plagued by war and famine and the complete collapse of society. In this world, the rules are clear: there are none. Survivors will do what they must to make it another day, even as fanatics and those establishing power across the Wasteland oppress more and more desperate people just wanting a morsel of what’s left. After an initial look into this destabilization in 1979’s Mad Max and a display of the monstrous nature of humanity, director George Miller expanded the Wasteland across its sequels The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome. Each movie showcased the best and worst of people, and the sickly approaches they would take to see the next day.
In Mad Max: Fury Road, this insidiousness is explored through the warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), who controls the supply of water in the Wasteland and gives very little to the thirsty, starved people below his Citadel. He has established himself as a divine being with a cultish following that hangs on his every word. His brethren, the War Boys, are malnourished and brainwashed men and women who live on ‘blood bags’ (people with enough blood still to ‘donate’ so the War Boys can keep going) and drive in Immortan’s name by worshipping him and honoring their ‘god,’ the V8 engine. When going after enemies and factions that may threaten them, they are willing to give their lives in the Immortan’s name, hoping to be ‘witnessed’ and ride to Valhalla to join the heroes of all time.
Like every movie in the series, this rule is eventually challenged by someone who decides they have had enough. In Fury Road, that’s Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a War Rig driver hauling cargo who decides to drive off-road, with the Immortan realizing quickly that Furiosa is also driving with his harem of wives (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz, Courtney Eaton, Riley Keough), and gives chase to her with his War Boys, like Nux (Nicholas Hoult), who hope to catch her and find favor in the Immortan’s eyes. And much like his involvement in the previous installments, Max (Tom Hardy) is in the middle of the action, as a blood bag to Nux at first and then driving along with Furiosa looking for a paradise within the ruins of the Wasteland.
All of this leads into one of the best action movies of the 21st century and, by extension, one of the finest ever made, with an ample amount of solid characterization, terrific dialogue that’s endlessly quotable, and phenomenal direction from Miller. Once Furiosa drives the War Rig out of the Citadel limits and towards Gas Town, the movie refuses to relent, even for a second. Powered by Tom Holkenborg’s thunderous score that is even personified in the movie in parts by the thrashing of the Doof Warrior’s flamethrowing guitar, Fury Road moves from one incredible setpiece to the next, from a chase where they battle the Buzzards, a rival faction, to one of the most visually spectacular sandstorms ever put to film, two brilliant canyon runs, and a tense nighttime sequence as the War Rig moves through a swamp. With the combination of John Seale’s incredible cinematography and fantastic visual effects, Fury Road soars as an action spectacle.
Yet throughout it all, the movie never forgets its characters, who are given ample development as the world around them goes to an even lower depth of hell. Everyone is broken, and trying to find some form of redemption and absolution for the things they have witnessed or the mistakes they have made, and wanting to be better people despite the world telling them they can’t. From Max’s tortured psyche due to his past failures to save everyone to Furiosa’s shattered past and lost family waiting to be found, to the wives of the Immortan Joe who find themselves at the precipice of a life with no shackles and futures that aren’t relegated to being child bearers for the warlord, and even Nux, a War Boy realizing his pursuit for Valhalla is more than pleasing a man who cares little for everyone else; the storytelling creates an emotional journey for them that by the time the credits roll, leaves audiences with a new set of favorites in the franchise.
10 years later, it’s no surprise that Mad Max: Fury Road has achieved the status it has in the pantheon of action cinema. A relentless two hours crescendos in a magnificent final chase in the other direction, with some of the finest stunt work and vehicular carnage of the century, giving every character a chance to shine and be a prominent part of the rampage, even incorporating that guitarist on a rig just powering everything with a crew of drummers behind him, and with a fascinating character piece that followed with 2024’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, it creates a picture perfect arc for the character as well. In the end, it rides eternal, shiny and chrome.
