COMM 321 Introduction to Film: An In-depth Review of Mad Max

This is a film review of 'Mad Max: Fury Road' written for COMM 321: Introduction to Film. The review summarizes the plot, highlighting the struggle for water in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by Immortan Joe. It discusses key characters like Max, Furiosa, and Immortan Joe, analyzing their roles and the actors' performances. The review also examines the film's formal techniques, including its hyperactive editing and use of computer-generated effects. Ultimately, the review finds the film thrilling despite some plot depth issues, recommending it to viewers who enjoy high-action movies. The review concludes with a list of cited works.

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Film Review -MAD max fury
“Mad Max: Fury Road” is an action movie that was released in 2015. George Miller is
the director of the movie, and he is also the writer along with Nick Lathouris. As per Roger Ebert
review dated 15 May 2015, John Seale is the cinematographer and the main characters of the
film include Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Splendid (Rosie Huntington), Max Rockatansky (Tom
Hardy), Toast (Zoë Kravitz), Nux (Nicholas Hoult), Capable (Riley Keough), and Rictus Erectus
(Nathan Jones) (Roger Ebert). All those who love high action films that fuel their adrenalin will
find the Mad Max: Fury Road film very enjoyable.
Plot Summary
Mad Max: Fury Road is set in a time when there is no civilization left, and the world is
fighting after the precious source of water, which is severely rationed, as Anthony Lane mentions
in New Yorker, dated 25 May 2015. Mad Max finds himself a captive within a ruthless society,
the Citadel which is ruled by a tyrant Immortan Joe. Joe sends a war-boys and their vicious
vehicles after Furiosa as she betrays him. Max is forced to accompany the War Boy and manages
to free himself. Pursued by Joe's war party, Max, Furiosa, and the wives try to make their escape.
Once again, Max and company face a violent chase and endure other trials as they make their
escape. Eventually, Furiosa, the wives, and Nux join the small band of women, the Many
Mothers. However, Max convinces them to return and fight Immortan Joe and take over his
Citadel, which is the only place with water. On their way back to the Citadel, the battle rages on
with Immortan Joe and his men. Furiosa kills Immortan Joe but is mortally wounded. Max

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manages to save her, and the movie ends with a triumphant victory for Max and newly
empowered Citadel.
Detailed discussion
According to Andrew Wigdor writing for UWIRE on Sep. 5, 2018, the Mad Max: Fury
Road is the 4th film in series of Mad Max and is shot in the Namib desert that looks like a
Martian landscape. There is a claustrophobic sense of panic that pervades the film. The action-
packed movie is full of gunfire, a series of explosions and exciting car chases. I remained at the
edge of their seat throughout the movie. The three characters that lingered on in my mind were
those of Immortan Joe, Max, and Furiosa.
The character of Warlords like Immortan Joe is both repulsive and abhorring. As
Anthony Lane reviews in New Yorker, dated 25 May 2015, he is a sickeningly disfigured tyrant
with a toad-like skin, who has kept a harem of beautiful women to bear him healthy children. He
controls the invaluable resources here like water and oil and has created a loyal army of
"Warboys” within his grimy and morally desolate world. As Andrew Wigdor writes for UWIRE
on Sep. 5, 2018, the His Warboys need daily blood transfusions, and the best way to get the
blood is by siphoning directly from live humans.
Max, the protagonist, has very few dialogues, but it is his brutal fight scenes that speak
for him. Tom Hardy portrays his character very well and without the need of saying much at all.
Max is not a warrior, but a man tortured by his memories and roams around the desert after the
breakdown of civilization. The character of Max is shown to be a lot angrier in Mad Max: Fury
Road.
Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron, is a powerful woman and one of the most notable
warriors of Joe. She is on a mission to set Joe’s “breeders” free and take them to a safer and

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greener place. There is a long-continued chase across the unforgiving and relentless desert
between Furiosa and Joe’s Warboys.
Mad Max: Fury Road reverberates with energy from its very first scenes and keeps the
audience glued. The whole film is based upon the chase and the speeding, chasing and exploding
on the scorched landscape. The director seems to have pushed his vision of a mad and gruesome
world to its logical extreme. What stands out when one thinks about this film is that there are a
little respite and no time to rest for the escaping party. There is a claustrophobic sense of panic
that pervades the film.
Formal techniques
According to Anthony Lane writing for New Yorker on 25 May 2015, Mad Max: Fury
Road” exists in a different league and carries a lunatic majesty about it. The film shows how the
director has been itching to explode after a long gap and delivers an even more spectacular
automotive mayhem right from the starting line. The film takes the dimension of violence to a
new level. With a hyperactive editing and accelerated frame rate, the twisted future in the film
gets fast and furious. Roger Ebert review dated 15 May 2015 reflects that the dialogues of the
bad guy as he speaks through a mask are indecipherable. Under Miller's direction, the desert is
like a vast podium of desolation and horrors. He makes use of computer-generated effects and
employs real stunt people who put emotions in their action (Souped-Up Vehicles and Road
Warriors Reign In “Mad Max: Fury Road”).
Conclusion/Evaluation
Mad Max: Fury Road is the kind of action movie that is composed of two monolithic car-
chase sequences that are nonstop and go on for two hours. Once the movie sets off, the audience
is left with little choice but to embark on the non- stop action that is meticulously crafted by the

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Australian director. There is no need for any dialogue as those weaponized muscle cars speed
across the desert at breakneck speed. Although the film is a thrilling one, the plot lacks a certain
depth. Some of the scenes seem to be dragging, but the overall excitement and thrill compensate
for any shortcomings in the film.

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Works Cited
Lane, Anthony. “High Gear”, New Yorker, 25 May. 2015,
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/25/high-gear-current-cinema-anthony-lane
Accessed 8 Mar. 2019
Roger Ebert. “MAD MAX: FURY ROAD”, Roger Ebert,15 May. 2015,
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mad-max-fury-road-2015 Accessed 8 Mar. 2019
Souped-Up Vehicles And Road Warriors Reign In “Mad Max: Fury Road”, Fresh Air, 15 May
2015, lib-proxy.sunywcc.edu:2128/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=eaeddb2d-83c9-475e-
a15a-360d9148cb51%40pdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU
%3d#AN=edsgcl.414867877&db=edsglr Accessed 8 Mar. 2019
Wigdor, Andrew. “Mad Max: Fury Road”, Film Review. UWIRE Text, 5 Sep. 2018, lib-
proxy.sunywcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.553213564&site=eds-live, Accessed 8 Mar. 2019