Review: All Noise and No Fizz in Mad Max

MAD MAX: Fury Road

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

Directed by: George Miller

Screenplay: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico Lathouris

Rated MA  120mins.

Over 35 years ago Dr George Miller and a band of clever young things made a cult classic road movie along the Geelong Road near Lara called ‘Mad Max’ (aka ‘The Road Warrior’). It was crude and rough, very Australian and very out there. I watched it again recently and well time hasn’t been all that kind to it. It was pretty ordinary really albeit exciting. Ah the curse of time. I loved the third in the series ‘Beyond the Thunderdome’, camp and thrilling insured by the presence of Frank Thring and Tina Turner and the line “it’s dyin’ time”.

George Miller has been trying for a decade or three to get another instalment of the franchise produced. Maybe that length of time lends itself to a pile of Over the Top tosh passing for entertainment in 2015 because frankly that’s what this mush is. Mush Max more than Mad Max. Miller has more money than in 1979, he has more vehicles (mostly, oddly very old trucks) and a helluva lot more noise –dumbly so. Just to make sure the slow learner is looking the other way we even have vehicles with drummers, speakers and axers wielding guitar flame thrower implements. I was a bit amused by the number of war boys scrambling around the rigs and using the exhaust pipes to leverage from, must have been insensitive to burning flesh...And the costumiers have obviously taken a break from dressing heavy metal contestants in Eurovision to dress the cast and extras. Dear lord there must be a medication that helps one sit through this drivel. Or maybe that’s what was used to conceive it.

Okay let’s be clear I DO like some action films. I loooove Superman and Batman, I saw all the Harry Potters and Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies. I just don’t like noise and meaningless grunting mixed with ‘oh look how clever we are to make these big, a-mazing scenes…what you have no idea what they are?’ I like some plot and some a bit of understandable dialogue. There was no danger of actors forgetting their lines in this, they virtually had none.

I have a huge man crush on both Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Tom did his broody, intense and surly best and Charlize struck a blow for the ‘cause’ and was good enough. Maybe get a new agent guys! Meanwhile Nicholas Hoult plays Nux, the misguided martyr tumour-ridden foot soldier suicide-bomber – I kid you not. He is actually terrific and his role has the most meat on it in many ways.

There is no doubt this is a beautifully shot movie, at times it is simply breathtaking but under all that

is…nothing. The land of the War Boys and the post-apocalyptic ground/citadel is spectacular but gee it borders on bad taste to me. It felt all too much like freak show rather than survivor land. Were there really little people and various disabled amongst all the creepiness? Oh dear me, really? I rarely am tempted to walk out of a film but I was so bored by this tedious rubbish I was ready to get out of there after an hour, desperate for something to lift it and introduce some zing.

Then along comes ‘The Wives’, suddenly some script, some meat on the skeleton and even some simple sense. The film has purpose and drama with bite for the remaining third. Maybe if someone dares to make another instalment in this madness we could have it about these interesting clansters.

Well there it is. A mess and a bore. A lot of noise and clunkers. A waste of a couple of looooong hours and admission price. You might end up with your own battle fatigue and burnt out and it just ain’t worth it.

2 out of 5