Is it worth going to see the new Max? It's been 30 years since Episode 3 went into cinemas, and it was only this year that the director got enough backers to make a sequel to the cult films that made Australian actor Mel Gibson a star.
George Miller, who rose to fame with Mad Max back in 1979, then got screwed by the Hollywood system until he ended up making animated Happy Feed penguin movies, returned in his 70s.
Mel Gibson's stardom is now past its zenith, so the character of Mad Max has been taken over by a more experienced actor, but not yet as famous, Tom Hardy. Yes, this is the Hardy who almost killed his acting career in the early 2000s in Star Trek. He's also the Hardy who, 10 years after Star Trek, landed the role of Batman's greatest adversary, Bane.
His partner in the crazy desert world is played by Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron. Then Nicholas Hoult joined the cast, taking over the role of Hank/Beast from Kelsey Grammer in the X-men comic book world. Additionally, the actor from the first Mad Max, Hugh Keays-Byrne, also joined the cast. Unlike the usual Mad Max movies, where all the characters were destroyed by the desert and there was no beauty, this one even features a few models, with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley being the most famous.
So I'm done listing the Aces in Episode 4. I'll just start writing about the film. What lies ahead, a dark future where water is scarce. 99.99% of the people are poor to the bone and there is no beauty, greenery, let alone silence anywhere around. All that surrounds us is depression, sand, half-decayed cars. You have to steal for food, for water. And what is the most important thing in the lives of the last survivors? It's petrol, which can be used to buy life and keep trading.
The first three episodes were filmed in Australia, which was a properly arid wasteland. By now, modern times have come to Australia as well and the environment has changed there, so everything was filmed in Namibia. With the African setting, the film already has the right look. All sand, north to south, west to east. If you don't have water, you're going to die. There's plenty of death in Mad Max. Not just by thirst, but by the commands of emperors who own access to water.
Max Rockatansky's wanderings through the arid landscape take him back to places no normal decent person should go. His life and his blood are on the line, and he'll just be lucky to survive to see another day. Tom Hardy, unlike Mel Gibson, is more action-packed and bloodthirsty, so we get to experience more action, death and petrol-scented explosions along with Max.
Charlize Theron ably seconds him. As the driver of the all-important pro truck, she's just right. More action, more petrol and explosions is exactly what Mad Max fans have come to expect. The fans' wish has come true. I'm sure there are a few reviewers, especially critics, who will find many flaws in the film. But it's the right timing of the action, editing combined with the music that works wonders with the film and takes it to the skies.
Every detail hasn't been left out, and when I read who's responsible for the masks and other environments around the people, I'm not surprised. Weta Workshop is responsible. The puzzles of half-assembled and reassembled cars again feature the Tatra car company in the lead role, who supplied their special Tatra 6×6. You can tell by the tyres and, of course, the Tatra chassis, which is unique in the world.
Now, again, something else. The music for this film is perfect. Junkie XL, who incidentally also composed the much-criticized 300: Rise of an Empire, hit the mood of the film exactly. A lot of the background music is part of the film without it standing out from the film. The composer, in collaboration with the director, perfectly blended the visual component, the guitarist being a member of the gang, with the film, so I watched every image, every chord, with my eyes glued to the screen. I didn't breathe a sigh of relief while watching it, and there wasn't a single moment I was bored.
It's a shame, though, that Mad Max isn't made for IMAX with a higher resolution than 2K. It's a film where I'm inwardly cursing the filmmakers for not having even more money to shoot everything on the best analog film so that one can enjoy every detail of the image. The African scenery, the desert, and of course every wrinkle on the main characters.
Original release of this article on May 17, 2019 – Kritiky.cz
