‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ redefines expectations for action and sci-fi movies

For the man who practically invented the post-apocalyptic movie genre as we know it today, making another “Mad Max” movie 30 years after the last one was a gamble. But George Miller has not only matched the marks set by his original trilogy—he has surpassed them with flying colors.

Miller’s vision of his increasingly disparate future takes the type of movies filled with vehicular mayhem, violence galore and non-stop intensity and challenges them to become smart, thought-provoking works of art.

For George Miller, it is a lovely, lovely day.

In the stark wasteland of the Australian desert, a broken humanity is sparsely populated and driven to one instinct: survival at any cost. Between the crazed fighting for the necessities of life and the unending ravage for gasoline, a loner named Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is unwantedly caught in the middle.

Max finds himself on the run with the resilient Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action who believes her route to survival is escaping the clutches of a ruthless gang leader and making it across the desert to her childhood homeland. With the harsh desert sands in front of them and ruthless marauders led by the dictator Immortan Joe behind, only the maddest will prevail the storm.

Luckily, all these years later, Max is still mad.

While many reboots seem more like a love letters to their predecessors with obvious jokes and references, Miller’s use of the same actors for the same minor characters and the same props, vehicles and images from the originals only enhances the world’s realism. These aren’t references, though—they are proof that this is the same, insane universe and nothing has changed. Right from the opening sequence, this looks and feels like nothing but a “Mad Max” movie.

The biggest reason the world looks just like it did in the originals is most of the special effects are really on screen. Yes, many of the landscapes, the sandstorm and the two-headed lizard were CGI, but all of the vehicles, sets and props are actually there and fully functional.

One of the gang’s trucks has a wall of speakers 10 feet high by 12 feet wide with a blindfolded guitarist blaring out hard rock riffs on his double-necked flame-thrower guitar on the hood while bungee jumping. In the back of the truck are six drummers pounding out primitive rhythms on barrel-sized timpani. When this truck is on screen, it’s going 50 mph in the Australian desert with 30 mph winds blowing sand everywhere. While many filmmakers would have used green-screen and computer graphics, Miller has everything there and it all really works. The movie looks the better and the realer for it.

Even though this is a “Mad Max” movie, the real star and hero is Charlize Theron as Furiosa. In a movie with seemingly non-stop action, there are many (relatively) quieter and intimate scenes of character development that mostly revolve around Furiosa and her story. But even with the waves of feminism rippling under the current of the movie and in many moviegoers’ minds, the decisions behind making the heroic renegade a new woman instead of Mad Max are sincere.

It doesn’t matter what her gender is, because Theron plays Furiosa an inspiring person with a tragic past. What does matter is that she is disabled and has a mechanical arm. Does it matter how she lost her arm? Not really, but that’s okay because she is still a hero who doesn’t let her handicap define her.

All we know about the characters is what Max ask them, which are only the basic plot devises since Max is not a talker. But in a movie like this, character comes from the actions taken and not the words spoken. There is more power in an image lasting five seconds than any monologue no matter how long, and Miller knows this.

Not only are Theron and Hardy excellent as Furiosa and Max, but Nicholas Hoult is astonishing as Nux, a follower of Joe and his gang who has to decide between blindly following the cult or doing what he feels is right by helping Max and Furiosa. Hoult has grown immensely as a professional in recent years, playing roles in recent “X-Men” movies, the comedy “Warm Bodies” and the critically praised “A Single Man.” His range is wide and he delivers emotional, relatable performances in every movie he’s done so far.

If anything, “Mad Max: Fury Road” has become the pinnacle of the action/adventure and post-apocalyptic cinematic experience. The pacing is perfect with quieter character-focused moments never going on longer than they have to. When they do need to happen, they do with minimal dialogue, letting the visuals tell the story for the characters. Most often character development happens during the pure action sequences, making car crashes that have been around for decades new, exciting and personal again.

The scope is huge, the fun is non-stop, the action is real and the characters more real. There is no fear by the filmmakers to make this a sequel that ups the ante on every level. And no one apologizes for making this the exact kind of movie it wants to be. It’s soft-spoken and invincible. It’s about unjust systems and no system at all. It’s about people, humanity and life in general disguised as a two-hour demolition derby.

And it took a mastermind like George Miller to make perfect sense of that insane world—that beautiful, hectic, mad world.

‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Movie Review

Katniss Everdeen may have won the Hunger Games with Peeta Mellark one year ago, but the difficulties of living in the nation of Panem have only just begun. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) must live a life of celebrity and romance for the public even though she despises every minute of it. She must play pawn to President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and his political games or her family and secret love interest will be killed. She must deflate an uprising against the capital even though she fully supports it.

And worst of all, Katniss is going back into the Hunger Games.

From director Francis Lawrence (“Water for Elephants,” “I Am Legend”), the second installment of The Hunger Games trilogy surpasses the first film with flying colors in every aspect.

Don’t get me wrong: I really enjoyed The Hunger Games, and it is a difficult story to put on the big screen no matter who does it. The second book was boring and repetitive compared to the first. But as a film, the second was much more exciting, interesting, and fresher, making it surprising and awesome.

Although every part of the movie was great, the biggest aspect that worked right from the start (except the source material) was the phenomenal cast and outstanding acting.

No surprise at all that Jennifer Lawrence nails it as Katniss again. The role is a difficult one. Katniss feels many emotions while combating several battles for both sides, physically and politically, and at the same time. And it’s evident how much it drains her energy and mentality daily.

Seeing Lawrence’s spot on portrayal of this character brings a depth and human relativity not completely there in the first installment. Lawrence is one of the best young actresses in Hollywood and Katniss is the perfect character for her to portray.

Josh Hutcherson as Peeta is also exceptional. In the fake relationship he and Katniss has for the public, Peeta does most of the talking. Although he does a great job of convincing the people of his celebrity and happiness in his new life of fame, you can see how angry Peeta becomes as the movie progresses. On top of the serious and dramatic scenes, his chemistry with the other characters is delightful. Peeta’s deadpan, comedic and perfectly timed responses to everyone in the capital who talks to Katniss and him bring a much needed lightheartedness to the film. Simply, Hutcherson’s portrayal is extremely enjoyable.

Donald Sutherland’s performance as President Snow is chilling and terrifying. Some villains are enjoyably evil, such as Hannibal Lector, Darth Vader and Loki, and you love to hate them. But President Snow is someone who you just despise. He knows he has Katniss and Peeta exactly where he wants them, and no one can do anything against his wishes. He is much more an evil dictator than president and Sutherland pulls it off beautifully.

Possibly the best scene of the movie happens seven minutes in when Snow confronts Katniss in her own home in District 12 by threatening her life if she doesn’t do what he says. It sets the tone for the rest of the film immediately.

Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and Stanley Tucci each reprise their roles as Haymitch Effie and Caesar, respectfully. All do a great job and are extremely fun to watch every time they’re on screen. Philip Seymour Hoffman joins the cast as the new game maker Plutarch Heavensbee, a chilling character in his own right who very much influences President Snow’s decisions. As the film progresses, Plutarch seems to stop at nothing to succeed in his plan dealing with Katniss and Peeta’s survival.

Although this round of the games is much better done and more interesting (save the part of the story with Rue in the first), it is the most boring part of the movie. Not to say it isn’t exciting and action-packed, but we’ve seen the same thing before in the first film. Much it is repeated: team up with some tributes, kill all the other tributes, survive until the end. Luckily, the games only take place in the final 40 minutes of the movie, so it’s easy to get through.

The overall commentary on the celebrity, politics and distracting of the masses really is the strength of this series and can be very evident in society today. Even at two hours and 26 minutes, the film flies by. The script is so tight and neat with absolutely no filler that you enjoy every minute of it.

I wish I could go into more detail, but there are to many twists, turns, and spoilers. It’s extremely entertaining and has a great script, characters and message. Catching Fire is the best sequel of 203 so far and definitely worth a viewing.

~Kellen M. Quigley

(This review of mine also appeared in the Salamanca Press on November 21.)