Less like a shot of adrenaline than having a gallon of the stuff thrown over your face, this is the punk rocker of action films, literally at times since highs speed trucks are ridden by electric guitar players whose instruments spew fire. In a post-apocalyptic, desert world a brutal patriarchal warlord keeps a harem of women for breeding purposes. In his lofty citadel, he has complete control of the community’s water supplies, which are briefly allowed to gush down to the famished below (the phrase ‘trickle down economics’ should have been invented to describe this). The formidable Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot's five wives in an escape, forging an alliance with the eponymous character who has been kept enslaved as a living, breathing blood bank. This is an alliance of the oppressed, but the focus is very much on the women. Particularly awesome are the eccentric biker clan of older women with whom the protagonists team up in the desert.
This is a refreshing take on the action blockbuster, reflecting director George Miller’s consultation of feminist thinkers in the production process. Formally, too, it is scintillating. Many films that achieve critical acclaim resort to ponderous long takes of little or nothing happening. Miller is the master of fast forward, making the screen pop with energy and turning the chase sequence into art through his flair for practical effects. The acting, too, is great across the board, proof of why in a perfect alternate universe the Best Muzzled Actor award would be created for Tom Hardy (see also The Dark Knight Rises). But he is essentially a side player, a reluctant ally of the action hero of the decade. All hail Furiosa; all hail Theron who is soulful, fierce and in control. And if anyone’s going on a feminist road trip on acid this Summer, hit me up! On a more serious note, the graffitied slogans on the walls of the women’s prison at the start (‘who killed the world?’, ‘we are not things’) make clear that this is the film for everyone who believes in climate justice.
Next Time: fewer Australian accents, more New Zealand ones.
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