Review: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Mad Max, still grimy after all these years...|

It does not get more topical than “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which seems to be set in the dystopian future of California in 2016 after the state runs out of water. Judging from the surviving citizens, the aridity leads to a host of problems: psoriasis, elephantiasis, a tragic lack of hair-detangling products. Not-so-benevolent dictator Immortan Joe (a grossly-misshapen Hugh Keays-Byrne) wisely counsels the people not to get “addicted” to water, but still they crave it.

The best trick of the film is that the star is not really Mad Max-it’s Imperator Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron with her instantly iconic visage: a Rothko of axel-grease fading black to tan. At first she regards Max as you would if a grunting, sweaty Tom Hardy showed up out of nowhere: you might not trust him but you’re not anxious to stop looking at him either. In the end, they find they kill well together.

And they must do a lot of killing, because Furiosa and Max have absconded with Joe’s prized “breeders” and he chases them down all the way to the end credits. These concubines (who appear to have wandered on set from a white party in the Hamptons) are selected solely for their looks, which is logical in context and perhaps a wry comment on Hollywood casting choices.

The fine-boned waifs provide a fabulous contrast to the gleefully grotesque baddies roaring after them, who have names like the People Eater and the Bullet Farmer (at one point the latter plucks out a tooth to use as ammo).

Director George Miller’s visuals are indelible throughout and will be stolen whole cloth in action films for many summers to come. Beyond the gritty desert hellscape, Miller creates a sandstorm like a portal to another world and shoots gorgeous blue nights where oncoming headlights reflect dreamily off glittering eyes and fresh blood.

When “Mad Max: Fury Road” is over, you’re spent and elated, giving the film the same look Furiosa gives Max: a laconic nod of acknowledgment.

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“Mad Max: Fury Road” is showing at the Sonoma 9 Cinemas. Rated R. Running time: 2:00. Visit cinemawest.com.

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