Mad Max: Fury Road

Over the weekend, I watched Mad Max: Fury Road, but not before rewatching Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. 🙂 I had forgotten some bits and pieces about Thunderdome, but not that basic plot… after awhile, it felt like watching a movie from the 80’s… seemed slower paced, not as much computer CGI, etc.  Fury Road felt like the CGI was a little over the top, with some parts just going against the laws of physics.  Nevertheless, I did enjoy  the post-apocalyptic mythology.

Fury Road, hieroglyph edition
Fury Road, hieroglyph edition

I spotted an article on Boing Boing, called: “Fury Road, hieroglyph edition” And fell in love with the artwork.  It’s a good recap of the movie, you begin to understand what the images mean after seeing the movie.

I don’t know if it’s tongue-in-cheek, but Boing Boing had posted several articles on Fury Road since the movie first came out… from the flame throwing guitar, to the edible spray-on silver paint, to the strong feminist overtones… all in praise of the movie.  Personally, I thought the movie was good, but a little hard to swallow at times.

But I think it was the mythology I most enjoyed… from the devout fanatical devotion of the half-life War Boys, to the wanting to maintain genetic purity of the line, survival after hope is dead, the iconography of different tribes of survivors, iconography of the different war machines, the iconography of the chastity belts, etc.  There’s probably symbolism behind the 5 wifes that I’ve missed… I’m sure there’s more symbolism in this movie that I missed as compared to Thunderdome, that made Fury Road stand out more.

For the most part, Fury Road was predictable… even the bit about the “Green Place” — it was like learning that Captain Walker didn’t return all over again.  You knew it was coming.  Didn’t mean the movie wasn’t enjoyable… I think I enjoyed Fury Road more than Thunderdome, but if I had to grade it, it’s a solid: B-