Mad Max: Fury Road

No Spoilers. Sort of. I don't think there are, anyway. Not what I would categorize as spoilers, at least.

I’ve finally seen Mad Max: Fury Road.

The film hit the ground running and sprinted towards the credits. There’s barely a moment when you aren’t holding onto something: your face, your chair, your stomach, your breath. This was an action film of epic proportions.

My reviews are rarely analytical critiques. If I wanted to write that kind of stuff, I wouldn’t have quit film studies. But I’m about to get as analytical and critical as I’ll probably ever get in a film review.

Feminism: “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” — Dictionary.com

People are all up in arms about the feminism in this movie. My advice? Forget about the socio-political talk surrounding it and just enjoy the film for what it is: A post-apocalyptic action movie about a crazy nomad who’s caught by some capitalist Kiss-fans/warriors and through a series of incidents, he ends up saving the world with a team of escaped outcasts/prisoners/sex-slaves/survivors/brainwashed zombies etc.

I’m sorry. After that zombie movie from 2010, I can’t help but see Nicholas Holt as a zombie in every movie he’s in.

I can’t understand why boys are getting their tightey-whiteys in a bunch over the presence of feminism. I mean, boys can literally watch the movie and see a bunch of hot women — some who are professional models in real life, many in scant outfits at some point or another. The story is about a world of men, run by men, dominated by men, in which women are property, “Breeders” who are only there for their uteruses and milk. The main character was still a man. The antagonist was, too. Male characters vastly outnumbered the female ones.

Unless what these boys are upset about is the fact that six of the first twelve actors listed on IMDB are females. Exactly half, kind of like how the real world is almost exactly half females and half males. Because equality sucks, right? Or they’re upset because the females actually did things. How dare these women fight for their freedom? How dare they consider themselves people? 

Anyway, I liked it. The performances by Nicholas Holt, Charlize Theron, and Tom Hardy, were excellent. The plot was beautiful and relevant. The cinematography and sound…holy fuck the cinematography and music and sound were fucking amazing. The contrast of the sand and sky matching with the contrast of Furiosa’s face paint in the beginning, the war drums and music matching perfectly with the shootings. Oh, and the fucking fighting choreography! It was creative and interesting and flawlessly executed. Just…fuck.

I could praise this film for ages. Everyone involved did a spectacular job and I commend George Miller for tying it all up neatly with a bow. But even more than that, the film had gender equality (also known as “feminism”), decent POC representation (for Hollywood), great disabled representation, and an environmental message. Good all around! I invite people to find something objective about this film to complain about.

Picture credit: http://filmschoolrejects.com/news/mad-max-fury-road-trailer.php