Mad Max: Fury Road is about to hit theaters this month and fans are ecstatic at the changes the trailers are showing so far. The fourth installment of co-creator George Miller this time takes a different route as it showcases the female characters, particularly Charlize Theron, and gives them equal importance with the male leads.
Some may say the film is getting braver by taking the road less travelled: showing strong female characters who can take on the bad guys as capably as its male leads. This time, the film does not use the women as eye candies or damsels in distress. Charlize Theron's character Imperator Furiosa has a buzz cut, and a cybernetic arm, takes equal billing with the lead "Mad" Max Rockatansky.
Set several years after the last Mad Max film, Imperator Furiosa attempts to cross a huge desert landscape with five rescued female captives. These rescued women were captives of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his gang and were being used as sex slaves, kept alive for their ability to procreate. Furiosa meets "Mad" Max (Tom Hardy), a former highway patrolman, and here is where they become co-dependent. For Furiosa and the women to survive, they need Max's expertise to survive the desert and reach safety. And when Max got captured by Immortan Joe, the only way he could escape is with the help of Furiosa and the women.
With a more modern take on a post-apocalyptic setting, it maintains the signature metal-and-grunge theme and explosive action of the previous Mad Max films despite giving more credit to the film's women. Director and co-creator George Miller himself made sure that each actor can empathize and relate to the struggles their character faces by inviting and consulting with Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler.
The film stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abby Lee Kershaw, and Courtney Eaton among others. Mad Max: Fury Road will hit theaters this coming May 15, 2015.
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