At the start of Fury Road, Max is the traditionally masculine action hero we have seen in past Mad Max films and what we'd expect to see presented in other action movies.
While these women are never made to be responsible for healing the emotional or psychological wounds of their male allies, Max and War Boy Nux ( Nicholas Hoult), it is obvious as the movie goes on just how profound an effect being surrounded by Furiousa and the five wives has on them. These women seek to change the system in this post-apocalyptic world, fighting to the death if it means getting closer to achieving a restored balance of power. Fury Road sees women as fighters and nurturers, idealistic without being blinded by their optimism, ready to work for the good of all over one. The Vuvalini leader, Keeper of the Seeds ( Melissa Jaffer), holds the seeds which are the key to restoring crops, life, hope. The Vuvalini, Furiosa's all-female family from a previous life, still live and fight together as a group. The five wives and Furiosa work together, a single unit with a common goal of getting to the matriarchal "Green Place" and capable enough to fight off marauders or fix the War Rig charioting them there. Where the men of Fury Road are so unscrupulous in their need to satiate a hunger for singular glory - be it a War Boy asking to be witnessed as he sacrifices himself in an act of violence or Immortan Joe demanding to unquestioning support as he seeks control - the women are united. If the actions of men ruined the world, Fury Road argues it is the actions of women which can restore it -and the first step is breaking free.įury Road is an action movie, yes, but it's really a movie more interested in presenting a case for an immediate redistribution of power in times of great and dire need so that power is in the hands of women and, if possible, a collective. In the chaotic, upsetting wake of nuclear destruction, Fury Road places all of its hope in these women who give a middle finger to the men still trying to exert Old World control over their bodies and lives. In making their escape, the five wives have done the most radical thing in rejecting what repressive patriarchy has survived and taken root in this post-apocalyptic world. It speaks for women who demand men answer for their actions, men who actively work against the good of world, men who can only see women as sub-human or subservient. This Greek chorus of five women and their united parting shot taps into things women have felt for centuries. "Our babies will not be warlords.""Who ruined the world?""We are not things."Īnd thus, the feminist thesis of Fury Road is writ. As Joe runs to their beautiful prison, three messages are written on the floor and walls: Fury Road makes the smart choice to avoid showing us any pre-escape living, but we are afforded a glimpse at the lives these five women had which led them to make their life-altering decision.
Joe has kept them imprisoned behind a vault door, using them as sex slaves in an effort to bear him more sons. This cause comes in the form of five women - The Splendid Angharad ( Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), Toast the Knowing ( Zoë Kravitz), Capable ( Riley Keough), The Dag ( Abbey Lee), and Cheedo the Fragile ( Courtney Eaton) - who have sought out Furiosa's aid so they can escape from the grasp of warlord Immortan Joe ( Hugh Keays-Byrne). Furiosa is every bit as competent, gnarly, and battle-ready as Max, but she has something which our former hero is sorely in need of: A cause worth fighting for. But Fury Road puts Max ( Tom Hardy) on the backburner, instead inserting Imperator Furiosa ( Charlize Theron) in his place. Max is the tragic hero we are encouraged to sympathize with. Through his eyes, we move through a post-apocalyptic wasteland where gas is a more precious commodity than water, motley crews roam the expanse, and he tries to recover from the death of his wife and child. Mel Gibson's Max Rockatansky is the heart of the first three films. The first three films - Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, and Max Max: Beyond Thunderdome - were traditionally masculine action movies with a traditionally masculine star there to lead the way. We need the feminism at the heart of Mad Max: Fury Road more than ever before.įury Road breaks with the Mad Max franchise's narrative. Five years since it re-opened an ongoing conversation around action movies and a woman's place in them. The most important fact of all, though, is that after five years, we still need the women of Fury Road. We need their strength, their courage, their power, and their idealism. Five years since it earned $375 million at the global box office and went on to receive 10 Oscar nominations. Five years since the fourth Mad Max movie debuted after more than a decade in development hell. It's been a five years since George Miller's Max Mad: Fury Roadwas released.