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The Fast And The Furiosa [Review: Mad Max Fury Road]

Survivalist and all-round lizard-eater Max (Tom Hardy) is captured by the steering-wheel worshipping dwellers of the Citadel and destined for a deadly fate - but when Furiosa (Charlize Theron), one of the cult's most trusted warrior-drivers goes rogue, steals a "war rig" and heads west taking with her the cult leader's five most valued "breeders", Max might just get his chance to escape.

For the first part of the film though, Max remains a captive - chained to one of the Warboys and stuck to the front of one of their vehicles, so while he does little more than grimace, Furiosa takes centre stage. She's an extraordinary character creation, and played with aplomb by Theron, but her real story has all occurred before the start of the film. I would imagine there's a prequel to be made here. Fury Road is still Max's story - at the start of the film he is at rock bottom, basically an animal focussed only on his survival; by the end he has recovered some of his humanity.

Visually, Fury Road is quite an experimental film - I've not seen anything like it. The visual style is a sensory overload of neon orange and blue, through which a swarm of exaggerated dieselpunk vehicles make their way; most of the story is told through one long, non-stop hyperactive car chase. Bringing the characters to life, giving them depth and story while maintaining the pace and interest is a real challenge. In my opinion Fury Road succeeds 90% of the time, never veering into the dull zone and only occasionally into the silly zone.

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