What a lovely movie

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2018)

While I wasn't overwhelmed with this movie as a whole, there is no denying that the action sequences were over-the-top in the best way possible. Costuming and design was brilliant along with some outstanding stunts and effects. I enjoyed the action and thought that Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron contributed all they could. It's an action movie and that's about it.
I guess I expected a little more substance being a fanboy of the prior films. In fact, I think Thunderdome is still my favorite for the amount of humanism in it. Maybe that's the point I missed, that people are pretty much gone. Humanity is a relic of the old world. But it's more than that. It seems like this script is more what you'd expect from Hollywood - the villains don't get to be human anymore, they're too busy being archetypal bad guys, only the heroes get the opportunity for redemption. I don't like black and white characters and everyone felt pretty flat.
The visions that Max had were just odd to me too. They seemed way out of character for him. I know he's a tortured soul, but I felt like we were missing something. He's always been the reluctant hero that ends up saving everyone but himself. I've always hoped Max would maybe stumble across Never Never Land one day and find a new way, but this is just a reboot, not a continuation. Too bad.