The Most Entertaining of the Bunch

Rating: 9/10 (10 June 2015)

This has to be the most action-packed movie I have seen in a long time regarding movies I have seen at the theater. After watching the original three of the franchise I have to say this is my favorite "Mad Max" to date with the 2nd one falling closely behind. The 2nd one may overall a better movie in terms of its themes and the development of Max as a character, but I definitely enjoy this 2015 release the most.
Fury Road opens with Max mentioning he used to be a Road Warrior (an allusion to the second film) and we see jolting flashbacks to what seems to be his son dying in a road incident in this post- apocalyptic world. In this sense, the film seems to combine a sequel with a reboot since Max lost his family in the first film, yet the film does not reference specific moments from the earlier films other than this. With the style more focused on the action, a fast pace throughout, and more modern cinematography, I would classify this more as a reboot.
This movie has received a lot of hype, and while I enjoyed this movie very much I would not be so quick to judge it as one of the greatest action films of all time; I may have to see Fury Road a few times because of this. The plot is ridiculously simple at face value: one side character even sums it up perfectly by asking "all this over a family squabble?" Max is a loner captured by a community that resides at a place called "The Citadel," and he is forced into the middle of a battle instigated by Furiosa wanting to bring the leader's several wives to a land of safety. When they realize this land doesn't exist anymore, they decide to go back to The Citadel, fighting the warriors of the community who have been pursuing them the whole time. That's it.
I'm not sure what to make of Tom Hardy's performance as Max. The opening voice-over sets the tone of the movie perfectly, and the voice Hardy uses even makes him sound like Mel Gibson from the original trilogy. We don't get much dialogue from Max throughout the film - which is perfectly fine - but his body language seems to only say one thing for a long while: mistrust. Max is so paranoid of Furiosa and the women she is protecting at first that he threatens them with an unloaded weapon, watches them constantly and disarms them as soon as he gets the chance, and actually fires warning shots that end up getting one of them injured. His grief is represented by the jolting flashbacks to the death of his son, which could have been handled with more subtlety as in the 2nd Mad Max.
Other than this, what is there to say about the action in the film other than high praise? I don't know how he did it, but George Miller was able to create many well-choreographed and carefully thought-out action sequences with little CGI and involving many various vehicles. I'd have to say the best road-based action I've ever seen takes place in this film.
This is one of the best films the first half of 2015 has to offer, but it is not a perfect movie. If you love action movies, then it probably is the perfect movie for you. Go see this film if you want the experience of a roller coaster.