Mad Max: Fury Road is the Best Action Movie Ever Made

Before watching the prequel later this week, I need to discuss just how good Mad Max Fury Road is, because there is a pure escalation of action that grips you for minute one and doesn't let go. Welcome to Sandwich Reviews. I'm the Talking Sentient Sandwich, and I believe Fury Road is the best action movie ever made. Name another action flick executed this well. I'll wait, because you can't. I mean, there's The Raid 2 for starters, but you get my point. Rather than expositing every bit of information for the audience, those details are organically dealt out requiring careful attention to context clues and the character's dialogue. Things like the warboys wanting to kill themselves to get to Valhalla, or the little hand signs that Furiosa and her people have all could easily be taken out and not noticed. But by having them, the story is given layers and dimensions, enough to see a new one with every rewatch. And that purposeful filmmaking isn't just reserved for the writing. I'll talk about why later on, but every shot is methodically planned out and designed for an easy viewing experience that only requires focus if you want to look for depth. Other than one singular bad shot, which is the CG steering wheel flying towards the camera, every bit of camerawork is beyond extraordinary. Captured perfectly, the carnage and action in Fury Road is filled with special effects covering the screen for the majority of the time, but that's barely visible. Aside from a couple of times where the CG is obvious, everything looks practical and real, and for the most part, it isn't. They really did go out and film in the desert, crashing beater cars designed to look like hodgepodge vehicles, but for things like people being flung 50 feet in the air, you have to use digital doubles. And that's okay, well, so long as it's filmed like this. Because those CG touches are only there to enhance the practical chaos that is actually happening in the frame. And although there's more cars crashing into each other and exploding than anything else, that doesn't mean the movie is devoid of hand-to-hand action. It's no Raid or Winter Soldier level martial arts, but it's not supposed to be. During the third act, they show a bunch of punch-ups, but the one scene that stands out is the fight between Furiosa and Max. When the chain whips in front of the camera, or Max fires the gun around Furiosa's head, the serotonin levels in my brain go off the charts. I've watched that action scene on repeat so many times, and I don't know how, but it gets better every time. But the movie has so much more to offer than just a few moments of phenomenal action. While a lot of the dialogue, especially from Max, is mumbled and barely audible, the movie is designed that way. Written and storyboarded with the intention for the movie to not have any dialogue, you can really tell that the majority of audio isn't necessary. The whole thing is comprehensible as a silent film, and let me tell you, it almost works better like that. A while ago, I accidentally purchased the black and chrome edition of Fury Road, which is a black and white version of the movie, and if you mute that and make it a silent film, that is clearly the way the filmmakers originally designed it to be seen. No matter how organically it is brought up in the movie, every bit of dialogue can be inferred with a silent version, because without it, you get to intimately understand these characters and the choices they make, because it is you filling in the gaps, rather than exposition. Though that is another thing superbly well done within this movie, and if you really do just want to turn your brain off and enjoy a solid action movie, Fury Road works perfectly that way too. The one thing that made me want to make this video more than anything else is the way the cinematography supports a simple subconscious viewing. I've noticed, especially with horror movies, my eyes dart from corner to corner of the frame, searching for any hidden clues left by the filmmakers, but Mad Max Fury Road actively stopped me from doing that. When looking at the cars, there's plenty of fun details and easter eggs to notice, but even that is front and center, because the whole movie was outlined and designed so that the focus would always be in the center of the frame. Every time the camera cuts to a new angle, your eyes and brain don't have to adjust to the new shot, because the exact spot where you were previously looking is where the new subject is. That simple trick does so much to make the crazy on-screen chaos manageable and hold your attention far better than if it were chopped into a bunch of incomprehensible pieces like a Liam Neeson fight scene. I've talked a whole lot about how Fury Road is a perfect action movie that can be enjoyed all on its own, but with every Mad Max movie coming from George Miller, they are all connected. And when I say they all connect, what I mean by that is they don't connect whatsoever. Instead of direct links, the overlap from one Mad Max movie to another is more in the costuming and prop building, and less so the actual characters. It's more of an idea that each film is a tall tale being told about this legendary road warrior, but even if you take each movie literally like it did happen, there are still some tenuous links. The first is barely post-apocalyptic, and each subsequent film is more and more cartoony. The whole dingy weirdos aesthetic wasn't really made until the Road Warrior, but that idea has become synonymous with the Mad Max property. With each getting a bigger budget and featuring the newest technological advancements in filmmaking, I'd say the fourth installment is the most absurdly Mad Max movie yet. I can only hope that Furiosa will somehow be even more amusingly absurd, but I don't know how that can possibly be done. Just look at this blind guy shredding on a guitar, because presumably, that's the only thing he can do. Side note, man that guy is lucky he found a guitar and learned how to play it, because what would he have done otherwise? Yet, no matter how laughably preposterous some of the things that happen in Fury Road are, the world is still vicious and hopeless, making it believable while also surreal. And the one thing that supports that more than anything else is how far gone all of these characters are, because this might be the first Mad Max movie where Max is actually mad. Mel's stoic insanity can be felt in the Road Warrior and Thunderdome, but Fury Road depicts a Max who has been broken in a way he just hadn't been before. He's still had some level-headed moments, but for the most part, Max is just trying to survive as he's being thrown around from one impossible situation to the next. And the best thing about that is Max isn't even the protagonist. That would be Furiosa. Max may have quite a bit to do physically and emotionally, but Furiosa is the one the narrative shapes itself around. I may be incredibly hyped for the release of Furiosa, but my initial thought when hearing about its production was, why? Because we've already gotten a Furiosa-centric Mad Max movie and it's Fury Road. But hey, if George Miller has a good idea, I'm not going to stop him. Because from what I've heard, Furiosa might be just as good as Fury Road. Yet even if it's only half as good, that'll make it a blast to watch. So are you just as excited for the upcoming Mad Max movie as I am? If so, let me know in the comments what you're most excited about. And as always, thanks for watching. Make sure to leave a like, subscribe for weekly video essays and reviews, and enjoy a delicious sandwich.