Deceptive by design

Rating: 5/10 (24 May 2015)

I was literally blown away by how disappointing this movie turned out to be. Granted this only happened due to the high expectations generated by ratings in places such as the present one.
I generally tend to find ratings in IMDb fairly in tune with my own, except when it comes to movies targeted to reach a more specific audience... and Mad Max Fury Road seems to fit precisely in that drawer; it is, come to think of it, a movie made for a specific audience to no less an extent than your regular "chick flick".
The movie itself is "punk rock" all the way through and I am sure this is what Miller intended to achieve so, well done, mate! It would have worked brilliantly for me 15 years ago, the problem is I started listening to other more intricate stuff in between and punk rock just doesn't cut it anymore. Don't get me wrong, the movie isn't bad, it's just been diminished to an overly simplified monotonous repetition of the same basic 2 chords disguised by epic keyboard overtones here and there. It's still punk in all its minimalistic rage and that's why songs last on average 2 minutes and not 2 hours.
I'm alluding here to the general lack of rhythm (for the less musical among you rhythm is not pace/cadence) in this movie, which is understandable since the characters have no context and no opportunity for developing it, they are but animals on a hellish treadmill going full speed sweating those clichÃ©s out like there is no tomorrow.
There is one thing that makes this movie shine bright, the depiction of this imaginary desert world is absolutely filled with artistic detail and its rendition is flawless. In this respect Mad Max Fury Road was an absolute delight. The steampunk and cyberpunk influences are clear and although one would expect them in a suburban environment it is this very juxtaposition that enriched the conceptual design of this world. Not surprisingly though, this universe had been presented before, more notably in Beyond Thunderdome (1985); only to reach full splendor in this 2015 iteration.
Much more could be said in favor and against, but ultimately it is what it is, the deliverance of a competent entertainment product, which seems to be the highest achievement attainable for the movie makers of our days. It could have been the defining cinematic opus of our generation... they almost made it, but they had to want it in the first place.