Even at this year's Cannes, as big a collection of intellectual snobbery and academic cynicism as you're likely to find in this world, it was largely agreed upon that few American films in or our of competition could stand should-to-shoulder with George Miller's brilliantly unhinged Mad Max: Fury Road, a film that very simply decimated all pretenders to the Summer Blockbuster throne this year. Almost none of the films released this summer demanded to be seen on a big screen in the same way Miller's tremendously active, dense compositions did, as they painted a wide-eyed portrait of a water-starved dystopia attacked by a cadre of brave women and Tom Hardy's titular, hushed-up ass-kicker. So, it's not entirely surprising that Mad Max: Fury Road is heading back to IMAX 3D theaters for a limited run, starting September 11th, a little less than four months after its initial release and some 10 days since the film debuted on Blu-ray and DVD.
It's hard to put the success of Miller's latest film in perspective, as Mad Max: Fury Road has dashed so many expectations in terms of its rabid fandom and its unlikely reminder of the power of the cinematic auteur at a time where their powers are being increasingly dismissed by the industry. It's not just the minimal use of visual effects and the stress on physicality and hand-crafted, imaginative mechanics; it's the mindful, clear sense of space and time that can be felt and followed in each shot, and the inventive narrative that evokes a tattered but still lively apocalyptic world. As compared to the enjoyable yet overly safe and market-tested-to-death visions of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Miller's film is a genuine work of artful conception, undiluted by any wanting to appeal to a certain crowd or age group. If ever there was a film that deserved to be re-released in theaters so quickly, only to allow for a few die-hards or late-comers to take a look at this masterwork in its intended space, it's Mad Max: Fury Road.
