movie post: Mad Max: Fury Road

Oh, what a Fury Road it was, indeed! I was beyond impressed; a film about oppressed women reclaiming their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination without colouring every single male character as the enemy while still keeping its validity as an entertaining (and totally deranged) action flick (yes, there are still some issues, but humour me)! And as a balance to the female rights talk: Nicholas Hoult <3 (and Tom Hardy :3).

I liked the character of Nux, who - starting out as a firm believer in the system - began to question it the more he learned about the fate of the wives, and especially after realising they were actual people, persons. Charline Theron as Furiosa was a hero. More so than the movie's name sake Max. She was a loyal ally to the women who needed her. The wives fighting for their freedom and their right of self-determination, but also being afraid of the unknown future ahead and the old women who helped Furiosa, Max, Nux and the wives to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. Women in this movie are shown as nurturing (the seeds they carry with them will help regrow the plants), but fierce. Men are mostly displayed as a destructive force of nature, but Max and Nux are both shown as caring. Max is driven mad by visions of people he could not help. He is being dehumanized and used as a human blood bag against his will, only to reclaim his bodily autonomy, too, and deciding to sacrifice his blood to save Furiosa. Nux, first to be conceived as a headless, mindless follower, is being shown as cunning and clever. They are all great role models in one way or another. Multi-layered characters going through character developement (also note that the further the wives get from their oppressor (physically and psychologically) the more clothes they are wearing) are one of the many things that make this film entertaining. Also, to me one of the main points was the thing Max said when they want to run away as far as possible, something along the lines of "you can run a hundred days in this direction and will achieve nothing, or you can go back to where we came from and fight through one day. It will be hard, but at least that way we'll be able to... together... come across some kind of redemption." and "Hope is a mistake. If you don't fix what's broke, you'll go insane." I love how he is a "Face your problems and do something about them even if it's hard and will probably break you"-kind of guy.
The fact that it also has more epic car chases and action sequences than a "Fast and Furious"-flick and is more disturbed in some ways than a Tim Burton movie, make it interesting and entertaining to the last second. A unique blend of sometimes blunt, sometimes subtle social commentary and action that's really worth watching. Plus some really great actors and actresses. Loved it.