The titular character is the only one lacking character development

Rating: 6/10 (19 October 2016)

This film is an okay entry into the action film genre. It has lots of fights and things blowing up. There is also enough of a balance of slow points to advance the characters development and keep the audience interested. The problem is, and it's a big one, the titular character doesn't seem to share any of this development. If you're going to title a movie Mad Max, it seems obvious that the Max from the title should share in the character development.
The titular Max gets captured by a group of warriors led by a psychopath warlord and used as a blood donor for the troops. Meanwhile, Furiosa, a driver for the same warlord, takes a bevvy of women being transported to a nearby warlord off toward her homeland. This is an excellent setup, which could allow for many and varied opportunities for character development for both Furiosa, Max and supporting characters.
Unfortunately, the character development seems reserved for Furiosa, the women being transported and a member of the warlord's soldiers. We learn of Furiosa and the women being transported's past. We see the soldier coming to the realisation that he has dedicated his life to a lie. We see the women change from frightened and defenceless to fighters and the soldier from villain to champion. Even Furiosa grows from a runner into a leader when she learns her homeland is gone.
Max, on the other hand, stays the same throughout the movie right up to the very last few minutes when his character is thrown a meagre scrap of a bone in the form of trusting Furiosa enough to tell her his name, and give her a transfusion. He has unexplained visions and nightmares, nothing else from his past is revealed. Those not familiar with the franchise are left wondering who this Max is and where he came from.
There is a gaping hole left in the story. Max, the one who opens the movie and who's name is in the title is a mystery. We learn almost nothing about him and see almost no character development from him. This ultimately leaves the film feeling unfinished to the uninitiated viewer.
In the end, this movie is good not great. The visuals are impressive, the stunts amazing and the CG, where used, seamless. The same cannot be said of the story which, unfortunately, should have been sent back to the drawing board a few more times.