Movie Review: Mad Max Fury Road

As a child, I only saw Mad Max on late night television. Usually Beyond Thunderdome. Two men enter. One man leaves. That was it. 

So I was without much of an opinion about another installment. Rebooting movie franchises is all the rage. Not even a new trend. Gary Coleman's baseball epic Disney TV movie was a remake of a 1950s movie starring Anne Bancroft. So it's a tried and true Hollywood tradition. 

Of course Mel Gibson is hardly Anne Bancroft and Tom Hardy is certainly no Gary Coleman. 

When I first heard of Mad Max Fury Road, I assumed that it would be a Redbox or a Netflix watch for me. I'm glad I didn't make that mistake. 

Some movies need the theater screen. The pounding sound. The surrounding crowd of teenagers in dates, parents on a night out and that one kid who was inexplicably brought to an R rated film at 10 on a Friday night. Most of that you can't truly recreate in a living room. Some movies demand the overall sensory experience. 

As the credits rolled on Mad Max Fury Road, my body was shaking and I realized that I wasn't sure how long I Id been holding my breath. It's sensory overload. It's epic. It's grand. And so much of it isn't CGI. It was amazing stunts and ridiculous staging and so much action. 

It's an action movie. It isn't about social commentary. Those in the Internet who are trying to make it something about feminism or more are missing the point. It's meant to shock your senses. If there is a social meaning you add to that. So be it. 

Just as the characters are trying to survive a barren harsh sensory explosion of a reality, the harsh daily, or in this case nearly constant presence of death. max and Furiousa et al are just trying to make it through a seemingly impossible life. The sensory, emotional and artistic overload that the audience experiences is but a tiny slice of that post apocalyptical pie. 

Go see Mad Max Fury Road to be overloaded, to challenge your sense. If you find a larger theme, great. But don't go for the politics or the "internet rage". Go because it is the most pure version of an action/chase movie in years. Love it for what it is.

See it in the theater. Maybe don't sit the in front row - unless you really want to see how long you can hold your breath.