"Mad Max: Fury Road" review

A Galvanic Spasm of Feminist Fury

The ladies have taken the stage on the blasted heath of the apocalypse, and it is good.  At first, the trailers for “Mad Max: Fury Road” didn’t captivate me, but when I heard of the potent female characters and themes present in this latest installment of the dystopic franchise, my interest was kindled.  Aside from Tina Turner’s intriguing but ultimately unintimidating Auntie Entity, no other woman had stood stoically amidst the burning sands of George Miller’s machismo-soaked landscape and staked a claim to destiny.  Of course, doing so comes at a considerable cost.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” is not just a film.  It is an endurance test.  It is a relentless and nearly exhausting assault on the eyes, ears and psyche.  However, the beauty behind this beast is that every jab, stab and spurt has a meaning and purpose.  The violence is brutal, but it is necessary because the violence is the story.  At this point, exposition is largely superfluous.  There are few words spoken in the wasteland, and almost all sound death.  While there is also very little plot, there is no need for it.  Survival demands action, and the action sequences are utterly astonishing.

It is impossible to overstate the quality and variety of the stunt work in this film.  The cinematography and editing is also truly amazing.  What a pleasure to have the eyeballs astounded by sights that actually happened!  In an age where spectacle is easy to calculate in the cold nether regions of a thousand hard drives, George Miller hurls the audience screaming into a real desert.  The sun bleaches the eyes, grit crunches between the teeth and the coppery taste of blood salts the tongue.  The visceral vitality of this world is beguiling despite its desolation.  What delicious irony that a movie so bleak can inspire such exultations of joy and triumph!

Max rarely speaks in this outing, and some have lamented that he doesn’t even feel like the main character anymore.  But there have been three previous films with Max firmly in the lead, so the time is ripe for new characters to have their stories told because their conflicts mirror and/or contrast against the burned-out husk that is Max.  Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa is a phenomenal new lead character.  While the fact that Furiosa is female is significant, what is more crucial is that her character is not solely defined by her gender.  If Furiosa were male, she would be much like Max.  This equivalence of ability, agency and personal power elevates the franchise to a new level of maturity.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” is the best kind of summer blockbuster.  The film pretends to present a simple action adventure for an evening’s entertainment, and it succeeds in every possible way.  Yet the story is pregnant with ideas, motifs and inspirations, and while not all of them are fully formed, the sumptuous production design fills the screen with details that make sense and allusions that are powerful.  However, there are also many little moments and minutiae which have been cleverly inserted amid the chaos.  Many seeds have been planted, and how they will bear fruit in future films is an extremely tantalizing mystery to ponder.

Lieutenant Ellen Ripley would be proud!

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" Review

Strong start, but faltering finish

Admiring the facility with which writer/director Joss Whedon handles large casts of characters while deftly balancing comedy and drama, I was very excited for the first “Avengers” movie.  While that initial film was an overwhelmingly fun experience in the theater, soon afterwards I realized that I was disappointed with the antagonist.  Loki felt more mischievous than dangerous, and the Chitauri were too generic to be genuinely threatening.  When the robotic ravager Ultron was announced as the villain of the next installment, I was excited!

The opening sequence and entire first act of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is absolutely breathtaking as the reintroduction of our heroes occurs during a raid on Hydra technology in a winter-blanketed forest.  Joss Whedon’s talent for directing and presenting super-powered action is superlative.  I gaped in awe, guffawed with joy and roared with hearty approval at the kinetic choreography.   Each Avenger is given a golden moment to shine, and when the team finally assembles onscreen the moment is exultant in the extreme.

Damn, it’s great to see you guys again!

Yet, as the story unfolds into the second act and beyond, the intense effort to pack in so much information begins to cast an ever darkening cloud of confusion over the proceedings.  Important plot details are hastily presented, and this prevents them from sticking in the mind.  There are too many story lines and character arcs overlapping, and losing track means losing the emotional investment in what’s happening.  Once that’s gone, the movie is over.

Unfortunately, Ultron is not an upgrade in the black hat department.  He does not come off as any more malevolent or dangerous than Loki.  He monologues and threatens destruction, but Ultron himself hardly does anything truly dastardly.  No innocents are killed, or if they are, their deaths are not given the attention they should.  There was no sense of actual consequence, even during the final, epic battle.  Thought the fate of the human race hung in the balance, this dire situation just didn’t feel appropriately desperate.

While “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is at times enthralling, hilarious and gripping, it suffers from the burden of having too much to say but not enough time to say it.  The film is a delightfully fun rollercoaster, but like many amusement park rides, the euphoria recedes rapidly.  Rumor is that the Blu-Ray release will add a lot of footage that will develop the characters more and expand the story.  Hopefully this is true, as there is a really good film in there; we just haven’t seen it all yet.