Mad Max: Fury Road

With a futuristic Australia resembling a wasteland, a group of humans known as the War Boys capture Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) and keep him prisoner. Used for his blood by Nux, (Nicholas Hoult) under the tyrannical rule of Immortan Joe, (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and haunted by visions of his deceased daughter, Max senses no hope.

At the same time, Furiosa (Charlize Theron) drives a large tanker truck, known as the War Rig, to retrieve gasoline for Joe. When Furiosa veers off course, Joe realizes that Furiosa has kidnapped Joe's 5 Wives and plans on escaping. Not allowing this to happen, Joe sends his army of War Boys after Furiosa; including Nux who brings along Max to ensure Max's blood stays with Nux at all times.

Once established with the set-up, Mad Max: Fury Road becomes one long car chase film. Furiosa and Max eventually team up in an effort to outrun Joe and the War Boys in an attempt to escape Joe's rule through the desert wasteland. Moving from one large chase sequence to another, Mad Max: Fury Road does a very good job at keeping the momentum of the film ratcheted up along with finding just enough time to give the main characters some depth.

There really isn't a whole lot to talk about in regards to story. What the film lacks in story, more than makes up for it with large-scale stunts and characters that you can enjoy just enough. Each action sequence differs itself slightly from the last before the film enters the final chase which ends the film in high style. With a pulsating and thorough score, Junkie XL goes a long way to help these action sequences flow with a really good score.

Tom Hardy's Max is a basically silent protagonist and when he does speak, he adequately grumbles through the few lines of dialogue required. The real star of the film, besides the stunts, is Charlize Theron's one-armed Furiosa. Her strong-willed character is the driving force behind the film, yet Charlize Theron does not play the character so tough that you are turned off by her. Instead, Furiosa, has her emotions pushed to the side in an attempt to complete her mission of escaping with the 5 Wives.

Speaking of the stunts, Director George Miller, instills this film with as much practical effects as possible and only using CGI sparingly, compared to most blockbuster films. This lets the audience stare at the spectacle of the vehicular stunts performed in the film. Everything from the War Boys, in essence, pole-vaulting to other cars and a full-fledged band performing music while chasing the heroes is grandly on display. My only qualm with the action scenes, is that George Miller would rapidly cut each action scene so, in my opinion, I was not as taken aback by some of the stunts than someone who filmed these scenes with a bit more of a sure hand.

That, in the overall scheme of things, is a minor concern. Mad Max: Fury Road is a very entertaining film and if future action films follow in its path, then the action genre will have a bright future in cinemas.

7.4/10