Mad Max: Fury Road
I remember as a young boy, maybe around 7 or 8, sitting with my Dad and Tata (grandfather for those of you who don’t know) and watching the original Mad Max trilogy with them in awe and wonder at this bleak apocalyptic future where crazily decked out gangs fought for control of the Australian Outback roads. I remember seeing Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) go from being a member of the remaining police force in the Outback, the MFP (Main Force Patrol) to a vengeful killer ready to take out the gangs of the Outback before they hurt more innocent victims. Watching Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome are some of the best memories I have of watching movies with my Dad and Tata before my Tata’s passing a few years later. He really loved the action and carnage of the Mad Max films and made sure that even though the film depicted violence as an answer to the problems Max was facing that I should always look for other ways to deal with them. (See that people, talking with your children about the violence they see in other media does help them understand that it is wrong.)
Anyway, skip forward several years and I find myself occasionally watching the Mad Max films when I have some free time just to see a young Mel Gibson ravage through the Outback, killing marauder gang members because I have grown into a huge Mad Max fan myself. Then I started to hear rumblings a few years ago of a new Mad Max film in development. My first thought was “Great! Here comes Hollywood to fuck up another classic film franchise.” But that isn’t the case this time. No, this time, this film is being directed by the man responsible for the first three Mad Max films – the legendary George Miller. (For all you youngin’s out there, yes this is the same George Miller responsible for the Happy Feet movies. Go figure.) So good; we have the originator of the Mad Max franchise at the helm. But who is going to star in the film?
Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, that’s who! While Hardy’s portrayal of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises is marred by that horrific muffled voice, his other roles in films like Warrior, Lawless and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy are great credits to his acting ability. Okay, maybe not so much Lawless, but you get the point. As for Charlize Theron in the cast, how could you not like this choice? As Kristen Nedopak stated on her Facebook post about the trailer’s release, “I will never say no to Charlize!”
And that about sums up how I feel about the new as well. I am pretty satisfied with how Mad Max: Fury Road is turning out. As a long-time fan of the franchise, to see it return to theaters after thirty years is quite a treat. Too bad we have to wait until 2015 to see it, but after so long a wait, another year really isn’t going to kill me either. Until then, check out the first official trailer for the film below.