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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
160 .......................... 149
__________________________
May 15th
—— 2015 ——
MAD MAX
FURY ROAD
—— action ——
"My name is Max...
my world is fire... and blood."
When it comes down to the three original films from the mad world of Max Rockatansky, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a major fan, though I still consider the second film a total blast, and definitely my favorite from the franchise as well. I love ‘The Road Warrior’ for many reasons, but apart from the apocalyptic apathetic desert-world crafted and constructed from the mental mind of director George Miller, there is no doubt in my mind that the last manic minutes of the film is what truly makes “the waiting worth it”. Raising the bar for action-heavy annihilation and shifting the gears for desert-destructive demolition, this chase sequence deserves its spot as one of the best and most respected action set pieces ever put to film. So why even hesitate about crafting an entire full-length feature purely consisting of an extended explosive chase-sequence, while turning a winning element into full-blown vehicular vanity? But one may wonder if George Miller can actually master a two-hour chase through the desert without any dull parts?
Surprisingly enough, he pretty much brings this movie home in almost perfect condition, after it has been soaked in gasoline and subsequently motor-mutilated for two total hours of complete cinematic lunacy. The characters, costumes and set designs are soaring with distinctive personality, and the adrenaline-fueled action scenes are done with old school mentality but adapted to new school standards. It works extraordinarily well for most of the time, but cutting it just by half an hour or so, this would have been a much tighter and more intensely constructed film. Because even for all the entertaining madness you can’t help but feel a bit stuffed after a while, and especially the middle part struggles to stay relevant and interesting – mostly because the subpar dialogue and hit or miss characters are for the first time fully exposed to the audience, without hiding behind any explosions or crazy car crashes. But I have to say that definitely enjoy the underlying themes and post-apocalyptic messages in the movie, but the actual characters and lazy writing doesn’t impress me much. Only the character of Furiousa is explored to a fairly satisfying level of compassion and relevance, while also being expertly brought to live by a fantastic Charlize Theron.
Basically, I think that the first and the last 20 minutes of the film are the best, while everything in between goes up and down in quality but still manages to hold it together without coming to a complete halt. As I said, it is the gritty and yet colorful universe of ‘Mad Max’ that makes this textbook journey from A to B a whole lot of fun, and some of the action in this film is both groundbreaking and beautifully executed. Overall, I wouldn’t call the film a decade defining masterpiece, which is the current and somewhat exaggerated expression circulating the Internet these days, though in terms of pure action excellence and wonderfully weird world building, this might contend as being just that. I definitely would rather want to witness this kind of nonsensical action, than the computer-generated kind of today’s mainstream cinema…
+
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
160 .......................... 149
__________________________
May 15th
—— 2015 ——
MAD MAX
FURY ROAD
—— action ——
"My name is Max...
my world is fire... and blood."
When it comes down to the three original films from the mad world of Max Rockatansky, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a major fan, though I still consider the second film a total blast, and definitely my favorite from the franchise as well. I love ‘The Road Warrior’ for many reasons, but apart from the apocalyptic apathetic desert-world crafted and constructed from the mental mind of director George Miller, there is no doubt in my mind that the last manic minutes of the film is what truly makes “the waiting worth it”. Raising the bar for action-heavy annihilation and shifting the gears for desert-destructive demolition, this chase sequence deserves its spot as one of the best and most respected action set pieces ever put to film. So why even hesitate about crafting an entire full-length feature purely consisting of an extended explosive chase-sequence, while turning a winning element into full-blown vehicular vanity? But one may wonder if George Miller can actually master a two-hour chase through the desert without any dull parts?
Surprisingly enough, he pretty much brings this movie home in almost perfect condition, after it has been soaked in gasoline and subsequently motor-mutilated for two total hours of complete cinematic lunacy. The characters, costumes and set designs are soaring with distinctive personality, and the adrenaline-fueled action scenes are done with old school mentality but adapted to new school standards. It works extraordinarily well for most of the time, but cutting it just by half an hour or so, this would have been a much tighter and more intensely constructed film. Because even for all the entertaining madness you can’t help but feel a bit stuffed after a while, and especially the middle part struggles to stay relevant and interesting – mostly because the subpar dialogue and hit or miss characters are for the first time fully exposed to the audience, without hiding behind any explosions or crazy car crashes. But I have to say that definitely enjoy the underlying themes and post-apocalyptic messages in the movie, but the actual characters and lazy writing doesn’t impress me much. Only the character of Furiousa is explored to a fairly satisfying level of compassion and relevance, while also being expertly brought to live by a fantastic Charlize Theron.
Basically, I think that the first and the last 20 minutes of the film are the best, while everything in between goes up and down in quality but still manages to hold it together without coming to a complete halt. As I said, it is the gritty and yet colorful universe of ‘Mad Max’ that makes this textbook journey from A to B a whole lot of fun, and some of the action in this film is both groundbreaking and beautifully executed. Overall, I wouldn’t call the film a decade defining masterpiece, which is the current and somewhat exaggerated expression circulating the Internet these days, though in terms of pure action excellence and wonderfully weird world building, this might contend as being just that. I definitely would rather want to witness this kind of nonsensical action, than the computer-generated kind of today’s mainstream cinema…
+
__________________________