A Movie Review. Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road. The world is rather desolate. A nuclear war has destroyed civilization and earth. Water is scarce. Survivors are ruled by despots who, at least in the world we see, rule in a theocratic manner.

Mad Max (Tom Hardy) is a loner, living in this desolate world. He is captured by the War Boys who report to Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). He is taken back to Citadel. It is determined that he is a universal blood donor, which makes him valuable. A sick War Boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult) receives blood transfusions from Mad Max.

Meanwhile, one of Immortan Joe's top lieutenants, Imperator Furiosa (Chrlize Theron), is sent off to Gas Town to get gas. My sense is that there was a trade going on where Gas Town would receive Mother's Milk. Mother's milk is what is implied, the milk from a woman. With the world desolated, human milk has become valuable. Imperator Furiosa has a different idea. She has decided that she will help Joe's wives escape to freedom.

Immortan Joe soon realizes what Imperator Furiosa is doing. He leads a charge with his War Boys to get his wives back. Mad Max is brought along to continue the blood transfusion to Nux. This recapture of the wives doesn't work out very well. During the course of events, Mad Max finds himself allied with Imperator Furiosa and Joe's escaping five wives.

I felt this move started out a touch too weird, but it quickly straightened out and became a thrill ride. What is really great about this thrill ride is that it gives you great detail into the society. It isn't just a movie that has an action sequence followed by another -- honestly that is what is happening here, but it is so much more. There are just these moments and conversations that give you a sense of how this post-apocalyptic world works. There is a brief moment were you see women with breast pumps in the Citadel. As the movie continues, you get the understanding that breast milk is highly valued in this society. Also, when death is potentially near, War Boys spray paint their mouths with silver paint, which represents their readiness to enter the afterlife. It makes one want to explore this world all the more.

My one problem: the vast majority of the population appears to have deformities of some sort and yet Mad Max, Imperator Furiosa and the five wives are near perfect specimens of humanity -- admittedly, Imperator Furiosa doesn't have part of an arm, but I assumed this was more due to an accident versus a birth deformity. The world has high levels of radiation. Most of humanity is suffering from significant deformities due to this and somehow there are a handful of people who look like models. I don't think so.