WASHINGTON — The arc of action history was humming right along with Hollywood car chases like “Bullitt” (1968) when it made a kickass Australian pit stop for George Miller’s “Max Max” (1979).
Before long, “Top Gun” (1986) had borrowed its ill-fated partner Goose. “Pulp Fiction” (1994) referenced its Zed Runners with a motorcycle quote. “Gladiator” (2000) borrowed its hero shot of a limp body hovering across the landscape. And “Saw” (2004) borrowed its horrific hacksaw choice.
Most importantly, it birthed a global superstar in Mel Gibson — setting his revenge formula for “Lethal Weapon” (1987), “Braveheart” (1995) and “The Patriot” (2000) — and inspired two acclaimed sequels, “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” (1981) and “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” (1985).
Now, 30 years since the last installment, Miller returns to his arid landscape for the high-octane reboot “Mad Max: Fury Road.” You don’t need to have seen the original trilogy to enjoy it, though it may help you appreciate the flashes of lost loved ones and in-jokes like Max chained to a baddie. Still, all you really need to know is that Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is a scorned loner in a post-apocalyptic world where green space is hard to find and bandits kill for energy supplies.
The film starts off with Max in the captivity of an evil empire ruled by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who also played the villain Toecutter in the 1979 original). This tyrant hogs the region’s water supply, leaving his people to suffer in the desert dust below. When a determined rebel, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), resists the regime, it kicks off a two-hour car chase that will leave you breathless.
Just as as Daniel Craig did Sean Connery justice as 007 in “Casino Royale” (2006), Tom Hardy does Mel Gibson’s iconic role proud in “Fury Road.” In playing Max, Hardy combines the best elements of his previous roles — the madness of his violent criminal in “Bronson” (2008), the face mask of Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) and the endless driving skills of his adulterous businessman in “Locke” (2014), a British masterpiece that you should rent immediately.
Still, as great as Craig is in the title role, the true star of the movie is Charlize Theron, who steals the show with her deadly combination of Oscar-winning cred (“Monster”) and sci-fi reboot experience (“Prometheus”). After months of criticism of gender bias in Hollywood, “Fury Road” not only passes the Bechdel Test, it smashes it to smithereens then smiles with silver spray-painted teeth.
Fighting with one mechanical arm, freeing a group of tortured polygamous wives and showcasing better marksmanship than Max, Furiosa is a true action heroine for the 21st century.
Leave it to a 70-year-old Australian director — born during World War II — to play the progressive of Hollywood gender politics, the way he advocated for animals in “Babe” (1995) and climate change in “Happy Feet” (2006). Forty-four years after his directorial debut, there are no signs of slowing.
In fact, his old-school instincts are what make this action flick so compelling. Yeah, we’re dropped into a bizarre futuristic landscape, so if that’s not your thing, it may take some time to get your bearings. But for all its visual weirdness, the action is refreshingly easy to follow, thanks to Miller’s decision to make 90 percent of the effects as practical stuntwork, rather than CGI. What a marvelous — or should we say Marvel-less — alternative to the digital chaos of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015).
As baddies climb across speeding tanker trunks, scratching and clawing at our hero in the driver’s seat, you’ll feel like you’re watching the throwback storyboarded stun twork of Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), which came out the same year as “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.”
Of course, a lot has changed since then, including our ability to process visual information. So while “The Road Warrior” had 120 cuts in just over 90 minutes, “Fury Road” has 2,700 in two hours. As Miller tells Uproxx, “Movies have gotten quicker. We are speed-reading movies now.”
The thousands of cuts are necessary, as the entire movie is one extended car chase. Despite the constant forward thrust, we never feel like the narrative arc is lacking. There’s a beginning (captivity), middle (rebellion) and end (doubling back) that are impressively structured amid the stylistic ambition.
Don’t overhype it before you see it. The movie isn’t perfect. Some characters are thinly drawn, the excessive action occasionally overshadows the story, and the film lacks originality by its very nature – it’s a fourth installment. But watching “Fury Road,” you’ll recall two quotes from the 1979 original that speak to Miller’s exciting full-circle journey.
First, you’ll remember the text on an auto mechanic sign: “Speed is just a question of money. How fast can you go?” “Fury Road” answers that question, dwarfing the original’s $400,000 budget with a blockbuster budget of $100,000,000. Watching this insane beast in 3D, you’ll duck when the soundtrack — yes the soundtrack — literally flies off the screen with diegetic face-melting riffs.
Second, you’ll recall the reason Gibson gives when he tries to quit the force: “Because I’m beginning to enjoy it. Any longer out on that road, and I’m one of them, you know? A terminal crazy, only I’ve got a bronze badge to say I’m one of the good guys. You know what I’m trying to say?”
We hear you loud and clear, Mr. Miller. You may have tried to quit “Mad Max” in 1985, but we knew you enjoyed it so much that you’d get back on that road to express your terminally crazy vision.
We don’t need a bronze badge to tell us you’re one of cinema’s good guys.
We already know it.
To the “Max.”
★ ★ ★ 1/2
The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where this film ranks in our Fraley Film Guide. Follow Jason on Twitter @JFrayWTOP, read his blog The Film Spectrum, and listen Friday mornings on 103.5 FM.
