A Triumph for the Mad Max Franchise

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2015)

On the front end of this review, let me say that I watched the Mel Gibson "Mad Max" trilogy in preparation for seeing this movie. I was brand new to the franchise, having only seen bits and pieces of the original films as a kid. Having watched those movies recently, I'm now judging "Fury Road" based on both its strengths as a film in general, but also as it compares to the other films in the franchise.
That said, I've rated "Fury Road" at 8 stars, giving it a one star advantage over the Gibson trilogy, which I rated at seven stars each. I suppose that means that I found "Fury Road" to be the best in the franchise overall. I'm still partial to the original "Mad Max" in terms of storyline and the character development behind Max himself, and my reviews of "Road Warrior" and "Beyond Thunderdome" both mentioned that my biggest gripe with those films is that Max's origin story from the original movie is completely cut off from the later films.
That trend continues in "Fury Road". If you watch the first movie in the series and enjoy it at all, you may be frustrated that the next three movies, "Fury Road" included, have little to do with the original film. That said, I've come to peace with the fact that the franchise from here on out is going to follow the now-established formula of making Max a nomadic adventurer who happens to get into lots of quandaries in the post-apocalyptic Australian Outback. If you come into "Fury Road" expecting that and nothing more, then you won't be disappointed with this film at all.
The film's individual merits are noteworthy. The movie starts off a bit awkward, with a capture scene that gives no background and provides very little in the way of plot development. That awkwardness on the front end of the film is the main reason that I've rated this film at eight stars and not higher.
However, I must say that "Fury Road" does do something that I feel is rare in filmmaking today. It tells its story in a way that doesn't go into great detail about either the basic gist of the plot itself or any of the main characters, and yet along the way it tells you all you need to know about the story for it to be fun and well done. I found this style of movie making to be a throwback to 80's films that somehow seemed to be able to utilize this method in a better way than the industry has done since. It's the same formula that was used in both "Road Warrior" and "Beyond Thunderdome", but "Fury Road" arguably accomplishes its task better than either of those two predecessors--certainly better than "Thunderdome".
It's also true that the film is well made in terms of both acting and visual effects. The visual style heavily emulates "Road Warrior", which I personally find to be a bit out there and abrasive, but despite my personal distaste for the dessert scene mixed with beater cars and leather clad minions, I nevertheless can admit that the film is well done visually. As for the acting, Tom Hardy plays his role well (albeit it's somewhat hard not to play a severely underdeveloped leading role that could have just as easily been "Mad Mike" or "Mad Mitch", since there's so very little about Max's character that comes through in the film--but that's a script problem, not an acting problem).
Charlize Theron, however, is the film's real star. It's uncommon for summer blockbusters such as "Fury Road" to feature acting quite as strong as Theron's. It may be inane to suggest that she might deserve a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for this role, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it happened.
All in all, this movie, like "Road Warrior" and "Beyond Thunderdome", is not a film that it takes a great amount of intellectual acuity to appreciate. But in spite of its lack of depth, it's nevertheless a fun, high paced movie that is a great two hour distraction. It's doubtful that you'll want your money back, even if it's not your favorite film of the year.