At one point in George Miller’s totally whacked out new film, a character proclaims: “Oh, what a day … what a lovely day!”
If you end up watching this film as I did, chances are your day will be anything but that.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a totally underwhelming experience, a film that promised so much but ended up flattering to deceive.
George, who also created the Mad Max Trilogy of the 80’s with Mel Gibson in the titular role, goes for the jugular this time, delivering a film that’s high on adrenalin but short on nuance.
Plot, you ask? Immortan Joe is a dictator who presides over his subjects with an iron hand.
Water, guzzoline (and common sense) are in short supply.
It falls upon a rebel, Imperator Furiosa, and Max himself to liberate the country from the clutches of Joe’s oppression.
In fact, Furiosa (Charlize Theron in a stellar turn) is the heart and soul of this enterprise. She completely owns the screen each time she appears on it, lending a sense of urgency and gracefulness to the film’s proceedings.
Tom Hardy, on the other hand, is completely out of sorts. He lacks the charisma and easy charm that a leading role of this nature would inevitably demand.
The whole film is basically one long explosion-filled chase down a barren, dystopian landscape that could give Panem from Hunger Games a run for its money.
Problem is, the aforementioned chase takes all of two exruciating, mind-numbing hours.
Miller’s vision is grand and has a sweeping quality to it. The same cannot be said for his execution.
A good film goes far beyond just expensive CGI and VFX. It requires a solid script, cracking dialogue and characters whom you can empathise with and relate to.
In his zest for making a film that redefines the action genre, Miller unfortunately seems to have overlooked this elementary fact.
I could have slept through the entirety of this film’s duration and it would hardly have made a difference.
In the film’s very beginning, Max says, “My name is Max. My world is fire. And blood.”
And boring, he might have added. This Road is full of potholes.