"My name is Max. My world is fire and blood. Once, I was a cop. A road warrior searching for a righteous cause. As the world fell. each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy... me... or everybody else." -Max Rockatansky
If you haven't seen this film yet, stop what you're doing and get to it. With an amazing ten academy award nominations and six wins, this film is a cinematic juggernaut that sliced right through Hollywood's dry spell of mediocre action films.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a continuation of George Miller's original post apocalyptic nightmare world of gear heads and war boys trying to build an empire and survive the harshness of the land. In this installment, we see Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) get captured by the war boys who are loyal to the oppressive Immortan Joe. Things take a turn, however, when Max ends up in the company of Joe's rogue lieutenant Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who is on a mission so save Joe's five wives from a life of bondage and servitude. The plot is one we really haven't seen in a while. For the first time in a long time, we have an original, lead female action hero. Max is in the story, but believe me when I say there's a reason it's called FURY road.
Charlize Theron totally steals the show in this feature. Between her and the War Boy named Nux, you hardly needed any more talent on the screen. The way Theron portrays Furiosa's sympathy and belief for her mission with the raw power of determination and selflessness while staring death in the face is absolutely amazing.
This movie is also unprecedented because almost all the stunts were performed on set. The cars were real, and they drove those beasts into the ground trying to get shot after shot of car chases and battle scenes. That effort really translates to the screen. Nowadays the audience can pretty much see when their mind is being fooled by CGI, and as soon as you see that peak behind the curtain it takes you out of the story. Did they use CGI in Fury Road? Of course they did. That sand storm and lightning would be way too unstable to capture in the backlot. But when the studio makes an effort to actually perform most of it live and in camera, the pay off in the end is exponentially worth it. At that point it stops being a movie for the audience. It becomes real.
The film in and of itself is astounding, and on top of Theron's talent it is an incredibly epic tale of revenge and freedom, and totally deserved to win best picture. Please, Hollywood, think about the magic that could be created with the marriage of filming techniques in Mad Max: Fury Road and the writing of The Nice Guys.
Think about it.