Mad Max: Fury Road Review

Over the years action movies have been running out of steam. Each year there's really only a couple of action movies that are really well made. Just to be clear I'm not including super hero movies in the action movie category, since I think super hero movies are a completely different category. Action movies are trying to replicate super hero movies now. Having almost invincible characters, big CGI sequences, etc. Thank God Mad Max came out and basically just showed everyone how it is done.

For those of you that don't know, Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth installment in the Mad Max series. The first three films starred Mel Gibson in the title role and basically revolved around a post-apocalyptic world where gasoline is the most precious thing. The Mad Max films have had a big impact on film, and I really recommend watching them. This time Mad Max is played by Tom Hardy. The story basically goes like this: A guy called Immortan Joe is viewed as a God since he has a big supply of water, which is basically gone from the world. He also keeps various wives so that he can have multiple kids. A woman that works for him, called Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), smuggles his wives and tries to get them to a safe place. Max is unfortunately tangled in this whole scheme, and has to help Furiosa along the way.

The movie is basically a 2 hour chase scene. The action is (almost) all done with practical effects, which means that CGI was almost never used. Director George Miller basically schooled every action director there is, since the stunts in the movie are so unbelievably amazing. You have guys swinging around in large poles grabbing people from other cars and taking them away. You have characters strapped to cars. You even have a guy playing electric guitar and firing off flames while he does so. This movie really is the definition of insane, and I loved every minute of it. The hand to hand combat scenes are also done perfectly. No shaky cam bullshit is ever found in this film. This is an action movie that is done absolutely perfectly.

When the film does decide to stop for a moment to catch it's breath, you get some really interesting character backgrounds, specially from Furiosa, who just owns this movie. This is a movie that really shows that women can kick serious ass. Seriously, every  single woman who is in this film gets to kick ass, and that is very weird for an action movie. Tom Hardy fits very well into the role of Mad Max, and doesn't feel like a big departure from Gibson's take, but Charlize Theron is the best part of the movie. She really feels almost like the main character from the movie. The movie could have been called Furiosa: Fury Road and it would have made complete sense.

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best action films I've seen period. No doubt about it. If you have watched other Mad Max films and haven't enjoyed them then you won't enjoy this one since it's basically a Mad Max film on steroids. For those that have never seen one you can actually watch this without having seen the others. The story doesn't try to connect with the others at all, although it does have some references that fans will enjoy. I do recommend watching Mad Max, and Mad Max 2 just to get a feel of how this series works, but it's not really necessary. Mad Max: Fury Road was pretty much perfect. What a lovely day indeed.
 5/5