Overview
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.
Right from the opening sequence all the way through, this is an amazing visual and aural feast. The cinematography is beautiful – every scene and every shot is a sight to behold. The car chases through the (Namibian) desert are insanely spectacular. And the soundstage is all-enveloping. All the things I like in an action movie.
And yet, I don’t really care for this movie… Is it that it’s too much of a good thing? It just gets a bit… dare I say… boring?
It’s probably not fair to say there is no plot. There is, and a bit of backstory also gets filled in throughout the movie – just not through dialogue but that’s ok. But the real problem is that as a viewer, well, you just don’t care.
Max (Tom Hardy) is not only a man of few words, but actually a fairly marginal character, more an excuse to brand the movie. The lead character is Furiosa (Charlize Theron). She plays the hero, rescuing damsels in distress (eye candy in the form of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz and a few more scantily clad girls) from crazed cult leader Immortan Joe, who uses them as Breeders. Furiosa is the only character who gets any depth in the movie – the rest remains as flat as a pancake. But the little bit of depth and plot that Furiosa gets isn’t nearly enough to carry the movie. You know you are supposed to be rooting for Furiosa and Max, but you’re not engaged enough to care…
Maybe if they had used some of the $150m budget to have used 10 minutes throughout the movie to deepen the plot, and develop a few characters, it would have allowed the audience to engage instead of merely being an observer of ‘1001 insanely cool cars exploding in the Namibian desert’.
Shame. 5/10, points earned for the awesome cinematography and sound. Let’s hope the sequel that will undoubtedly follow has a stronger plot. Sometimes, indeed less is more.
