Want to lower your IQ? Watch this.

Rating: 1/10 (1 June 2015)

It's troubling that a movie can be singularly focused on loud explosions and violence with no plot, dialogue, or character development, yet receive widespread critical acclaim. This is the first film I've ever seen that actually reminded me of the type the populace in Idiocracy would find enthralling.
To be clear, there are no redeeming qualities about this film. None. And I went in with pretty low expectations, figuring this would be some fun, mindless entertainment i.e The Expendables or any Jason Statham movie. The first few minutes weren't too bad: it looked cheesy, but it had potential. But then I realized that this movie is one long (boring) car chase...and that's it. Really. I mean it really was boring -- exactly what an action movie should not be. The car chases are all one and the same. After a few minutes, it just isn't exciting.
There is no story. The two leads drive to the middle of nowhere, then turn around. That's it. Two of the characters mention they are "looking for redemption" or some other trite nonsense, but the audience is never told why. Not that they'd care. Is the story about survival? At first you'd think so. Max mentions in the opening credits that he is a man reduced to one trait: survival. Yet at the film's end, when he finally has an opportunity to survive....he chooses not to? What? The movie was bad enough until this. Actually I forgot, there is an incredibly forced romance between two side characters that does nothing to further the story. This is a B movie with a big budget.
Likewise, there is essentially no dialogue, save a few grunts from Max and cringe-inducingly awkward lines from the rest.
There isn't any character development, but then again, the characters themselves resemble video game characters. There are no characters to develop, just two-dimensional avatars used for an excuse to show explosions.
So what is this film's targeted demographic? I'm not sure. I can imagine that if you are a 13-year old boy, really into cars/trucks/slipknot, pretty redneck, and probably a little slow, this movie may seem pretty cool. I mean it does have ridiculous cars/trucks outfitted with lots of weapons, spikes, flame-exhausts, (breast-milk?) and guys playing "cool" guitar riffs for no apparent reason. There's also lots of explosions and fighting. And scantily clad women. And tornadoes. And skulls. On top of all that, there is no need to pay attention to petty plot lines or dialogue in order to enjoy the film. Hell once they reach the desert, the movie repeats itself as the leads drive the truck back through the same place being chased by the same guys for no discernible reason.
The special effects aren't even that good. The whole movie looks fake. I know they went to great measures to avoid using CGI, but honestly, I thought I'd at least be impressed by the special effects, since clearly nothing was spent on anything else. And I'm not the kind of person who usually notices when CGI is used or not.
Truly awful. I would rate it lower if I could. The only recent movie that may have actually been worse that this was Lucy, which was also mind-numbingly stupid.
As the principal in Billy Madison once said, "everyone in this room is now dumber for having (watched) it." AVOID