On June 22, 2015: a plane crashed killing both the pilot and its one-person passenger, that passenger was the legenday, two-time Oscar winner James Horner. Horner was responsible for composing some of the most memorable scores and songs that have ever been recorded. In this post I'll post some of his most notable films scores and songs. Mr. Horner, thank you very much for your contribution to cinema, we'll carry on your legacy by sharing it with future generations.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Dir. Nicholas Meyer)
W: Nico Lanthouris, Brendan McCarthy, George Miller
S: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hault, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoë Kravitz, Abby Lee, Courtney Eaton
After a long, VERY long delay I'm back! This time to take a look at the highly praised, fourth installment of the Mad Max series.
Before I get to the review I just want to take a moment and say three things:
1. I apologize again to those who follow the blog. This past month I've been dedicating my time to getting thing ready for a huge family event. I thought I would be able to squeeze in a few screenings and write something for you guys but given this and another piece of news I have for you, I've been swamped when it comes to writing for the blog.
2. I recently started writing for the website Rebeatmag.com, a website that is all about the mid 20th Century (1950s-1970s), They mostly cover music but they've been expanding into tv and movies and you can guess which category I've been writing about.
3. I've decided to use this blog to promote the good films that come out. Why is that? Because the film community (especially online) is already full of more than its fair share of negativity. That doesn't mean I won't still see bad movies, because one should see the bad so that you can better appreciate the good.
Okay with all that out of the way, on the review!
"Mad Max" Rockatanksy (Tom Hardy) returns in the fourth installment of this post-apocalypse series as he joins the fierce female fighter Furiosa (Charlize Theron) as she rescues the five "wives" (he uses them for breeding purposes) of the tyrannical cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). The ragtag group of fighters are joined by one of Joe's "War Boys" named Nux (Nicholas Hoult) and a group of kick-ass motorcycle riding women from Furiosa's homeland as they try to find a new place to live while avoiding Joe and his convoy of killers.
Before I saw this movie I really didn't have that much knowledge about the series so I decided to check them out, at least the first two, and I enjoyed them. Then I went and finally saw this film and... oh my giddy aunt. This has to be one of the most exciting, action packed, smart and... why am I even writing this review?! You've all seen it probably and if you haven't then what the hell are you doing here GO SEE IT!
Seriously, I could just end it here by saying "GO SEE IT!" Okay, fine I'll actually say a few things about the film.
For one thing, I love the amount of detail director George Miller puts into this film production design. Take the cars for example: Those cars are so uniquely designed that I honestly believe Miller and his crew went out to a locate scrap yard and hand picked every piece to create the cars.
Seriously! Look at that! That is a bad-ass truck!
But the attention to detail doesn't end with the cars, it applies to everything. The set, the costumes, the weapons, the mythos and community of the Joe's citadel and associates. I truly hope that around award season that at least the production and costume personnel get recognized.
The film also features awesome performances. Tom Hardy, who by the way is amazing actor who deserves more praise, does an amazing job taking over for Mel Gibson as the eponymous character, Charlize Theron is amazing as the true leader of the group, and Hugh Keays-Byrne (who played the villain from the first film, The Toecutter) is awesome as the main villain who has fairly awesome Darth Vader vibe to him. But if I had one performance to highlight as my favorite it would be Nicholas Hoult as the gung-ho 'War Boy' named Nux. Ever since I saw him scream, "What a lovely day!" in the trailer I knew I was going to like this performance. I don't think my words can do proper justice to performance you have to see it to believe it.
Another aspect to praise in the film is the action. Everything done in the film is there, there's no green screen, no CGI people, blood squibs or settings, it's all there! Yes, Miller did use some CGI but it was only used to enhance the scenes and expand it, not substitute them entirely. Take note, film makers!
It's also phenomenal how Miller managed to convey the story and character just through the art film making. He doesn't bog down the story with long drawn out, and boring, speeches about life and what the backstories are with the characters. In other words: he shows, he doesn't tell. That doesn't mean everything is given a easy answer, which can be a good thing. One example of this is throughout the film Max is seeing hallucinations of several people whom he apparently couldn't save, it mostly comes in the form of a little girl and to my knowledge there's not a character like her in any of the other Max films. So, she could mean anything. If things are left to interpretation that's fine, it just adds to discussion.
But of course the one thing everybody has been talking about is that this film has some of the best written female characters. We all need to face the fact that Furiosa is the leader and the real hero. Sure, Max does a lot to help but he's mostly there to just get away from the bad guys who were draining his blood. Max's involvement with the film is more of transition from brooding loner who doesn't care about anyone to someone who realizes the value of human life and genuine interest in helping. But again, it's the ladies who are the bad-asses in this movie. From Furiosa defying her former leader and rescuing five women who are being used as basically sex slaves to the motorcycle riding, sharpshooting women from Furiosa's home village. Seriously, there's a lot to talk about with this aspect, it's that amazing. And yes I've seen the Feminist Mad Max posts and they are indeed awesome.
I could go for hours and hours about this film and everything is awesome but I'll end it here and let you go see it for yourself if you haven't and I'll summarize my review by saying - Oh, what a film! What a lovely film!
Agree? Disagree? Share you thoughts in the comment section.
