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Saturday, January 06, 2024

"Mad Max: Fury Road" - 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'



With director George Miller prepping his post-apocalyptic prequel, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" for  a 2024 release, take another look at "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road", starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy:


MICHAEL STEVENS FOR 'THE GOOD':


"'Mad Max: Fury Road', director George Miller's sardonic $150 million budgeted 3D demented demolition derby of a movie, throws everything to the wind and cuts to the chase for an insanely wild 2 hour ride...


"...in a ferociously adrenalized crash 'n burn', petrol-pumped speed-demon of a movie that leaves his previous "Mad Max" trilogy in the dust...


"The new film gets into gear early on, revved-up by grotesque, dystopian death cult-followers, scrambling like vile Rat Patrols through the Namibian desert...



"...accompanied by explosive set pieces, broken CG bodies and scattered car debris.



"Like a cranked-up 'Cirque Du Soleil', led by a pounding dirge and amplified death-metal rock music ...



"...Miller drops the viewers into the thick of it...


"...with relentless, hardcore vehicular homicides...


"...thanks to the efforts of hundreds of talented stunt perfomers working their asses off in customized, rusted rigs...


"...led by the hideously garbed, psychotic 'Immortan Joe', who is high on octane and testosterone.



"Filtered through his black humor sensibility...



"...Miller's surreal survivalist society is effectively realized with great detail, leaving plenty of room for further adventures in the Australian 'Wasteland'...


GRAF ORLOK FOR 'THE BAD':


"Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looks far lovelier here than in any of her recent fashion photo spreads, dressed in clean white linen...


"...surrounded by a bevy of nubile beauties, in stark contrast to the grimy, blinding filth of the surrounding diesel environment.



"There are scenes of torture, and S&M strap on metal gear...
 




"...but frankly I prefer my gizmos soft and sweet, which is why I was rooting for the ''Five Wives'...



"...over the shaved and painted uber-macho 'War Boys'.



JANE DOBERMAN FOR 'THE UGLY':


"Although he is a dick in real life, this movie does make me long for Mad Mel Gibson as the original scrawny 'Max'. 



"...with Tom Hardy earnestly trying to fill in Gibson's greasy boots, but coming off more or less as a bewildered beefcake in a torn leather jacket. 



"Although Hardy's 'Max' eats desert lizards to survive, he still looks well-fed, but doomed to be starved for affection, as there is absolutely zero attraction between him and 'Furiosa' (Theron).



"But I give Hardy's 'Max' some credit for looking good, compared to the speed freak 'War Boys', where every character gloriously revels in accursed ugliness...




"...whether its a lack of teeth, hair, limbs, etc. or spray-painting their twisted smiles with chrome enamel to look 'shiny' for the gods in 'Valhalla'.

"Charlize Theron, trying to act like Sigourney Weaver in an 'Alien' movie basically sleep-walks through her role...


"...with such 'low key' disinterest, I didn't wonder about her back story, because like her, I didn't really care.




"And again, like he did in "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior", the director kills off his best looking woman, tossing pregnant beauty (Huntington-Whiteley) off a speeding truck, taking her out to the accompaniment of heart-tugging strings.



"Now I want to believe (somewhat) that drool, blood and mother's milk are an integral part of the 'sensibility' of the weirdo survivors in this maniacal action film...
 




"...but really, how in the hell am I supposed to keep my Cineplex 'Dog 'N Nacho Combo' down with all this gooey hooey in my face ?  


"Hence the working title of the next movie, that intends to plunge deeper into the 'Road Warrior' mythos:



"'Mad Max: Wasteland'..." ?!?