Miller really gets into his tribal culture. It is not petrol that’s at stake, but a harem of five gorgeous if gobby brides stolen from beneath the nose of premier deviant Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played Toecutter in Mad Max) - a bleach-skinned grotesque doing the majority of his raging via his eyeballs, given the oxygen mask clamped to his jaw like Bane’s maniac progeny. Over the varying terrain of this post-nuke Monument Valley, a heavily armoured tanker dubbed the War Rig, piloted by the unfortunate Max (Tom Hardy) and turncoat imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), staves off wave upon wave of hair-brained attacks from the War Boys, a local chapter of mutant wackos giving chase in a swarm of beefed-up chariots. Like Mad Max 2, Fury Road is structured as one brilliantly sustained chase sequence in warped homage to Stagecoach. Over the three decades since Beyond Thunderdome, the versatile Aussie hasn’t written a script so much as drawn-up battle plans. And now, with $150 million-plus change at his disposal and the devil’s gleam in his eye, Miller has surely achieved maximum madness. The brand name refers not only to its tortured hero - it is a statement of intent. All these goofy, psychotic tribes outfitted like thrash-metal gladiators battling over the last dregs of petrol in jerry-built hot-rods. No, it’s worthwhile returning to Mad Max’s high-octane futurology to remind yourself that this is one bat-shit crazy franchise. Even the Mel Gibson-on-wires capers of the under-appreciated Beyond Thunderdome possess a giddy, violent power. Not necessarily because they are landmarks in the art of slamming vehicle into vehicle at extreme velocities, automotive carnage that has inspired everyone from James Cameron to Edgar Wright. Before venturing down Fury Road, George Miller’s wildly entertaining reincarnation of his post-apocalyptic Oz, it’s worth reacquainting yourself with his previous Mad Max films.
0 kommentar(er)
