Mad Max returns with a vengeance

Rating: 9/10 (4 July 2017)

Shell-shocked former cop Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy in peak rugged form) and tough warrior Imperator Furiosa (a fabulously fierce portrayal by Charlize Theron) join forces to protect a group of fertile women from the vile clutches of evil warlord Immortan Joe (robustly played to the monstrous hilt by Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his vicious minions.
Director/co-writer George Miller keeps the lively and wildly entertaining story hurtling along at a relentless slam-bang pace, stages the thrilling action set pieces with rip-roaring brio, and brings a staggering sense of epic scope and crazy go-for-broke creativity to the infectiously over-the-top proceedings. Better still, Miller's tightly streamlined narrative pares everything down to the exciting bare essentials which in turn ensures that there isn't a single wasted frame or dull moment throughout. This movie earns extra points for its strong feminist stance in which a bunch of women who have been relegated to the status of property whose sole useful functions are either for reproduction or providing milk take a defiant stance against an oppressive patriarchy.
Moreover, Max's struggle to regain his humanity and the redemptive character arc of the misguided Nux (a sturdy performance by Nicholas Hoult) give this picture extra depth and poignancy. This movie further benefits from a colorful array of outrageously nasty villains: Nathan Jones as dim-witted brute Rictus Erectus, Josh Helman as deranged War Boy follower Slit, John Howard as the grotesquely obese the People Eater, and Richard Carter as unhinged religious fanatic the Bullet Farmer. Kudos are also in order for John Seale's breathtaking widescreen cinematography and Junkie XL's dynamic pulsating score. An incredibly ferocious explosion of a film.