Grade: A-

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2015)

Note: I have not seen any other Mad Max films- but I intend to
Mad Max: Fury Road is without a doubt one of the most hyped blockbusters of the year. Featuring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in the leading roles of George Miller's famous franchise, the movie generated a lot of buzz, and the trailer promised the uncompromising vision of George Miller. Which is exactly what we get.
Fury Road opens with a short montage explaining the events that create the wasteland that the film's ensemble will traverse. It's a bit choppy and generic, but it gets the point across. It then cuts to Max overlooking the quiet desert landscape, twitching at any sound before he hops into his car. The quiet is disturbed when a caravan of land vehicles come following after Max. From here on, the action is almost non-stop.
Mad Max isn't much in the way of character development; it isn't concerned with backstory or relationships very much. It simply places our main characters in a setting and lets them play around in it for two hours. While this may sound unorthodox, George Miller pulls it off with masterful ease. Using visuals, he establishes the rules of the citadel and the dystopian civilization they are living in a scene where Immortan Joe gives water to the people. We understand what is happening and who is important.
The movie soon takes us off course as Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron, takes a detour from the supply run and Immortan Joe's "warboys", including overly- enthusiastic warboy Nicholas Hoult (in a role that is surprisingly well-suited for him), take off after her. Thus begins the epic chase. The movie is almost unrelenting in the amount of action going on at once, it is amazing to look at. There hasn't been more thrilling chase scenes in any film in years.
Unfortunately, the movie's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. With about half an hour left to go, the movie starts to feel rather monotonous. There is very little story to work with, which works great at first, but by the movie's end, it felt like my eyes took a ride, but not the rest of me. I left the theater feeling nothing for the characters, nothing to think about in regards to dystopia, and realize that what little story was there could have been told in five minutes. The movie does itself an injustice by only showcasing breathtaking action sequences and failing to dig just a little deeper. The actioner also suffers from the trope of the good guys being great shots while the goons are insufferably disposable and terrible shots.
Still, pretty much everything else works in Mad Max: Fury Road. The cinematography is gorgeous; the colors are saturated, rather than desaturated like most post-apocalyptic films, and the use of sweeping shots and wides give the audience a great view of the action. The editing is frenetic, but not in such a way that dizzies the audience. Jump cuts keep the tension high, and there are several disturbing inserts that represent the mental torment Max is really in. The soundtrack is thunderous and bombastic. The production design is outrageous and unique. And the actors, though they aren't given a whole lot to work with, are all believable in their roles. The one who really gets to shine here is Nicholas Hoult, a warboy on the trail of Max and Furiosa in the hopes of impressing Immortan Joe.
Another point that should be applauded is the movie's portrayal of females; while most blockbusters are very male-dominated and often stereotype women as damsels in distress, the strongest characters in Mad Max are the women. Charlize Theron is scarred and has a prosthetic arm, but it doesn't stop her from continuously kicking ass throughout the movie's 2-hour duration. Max, as bad-ass as he is, isn't the best shot with a sniper rifle, and isn't so proud as to risk wasting ammo, and turns the rifle over to Furiosa. In a very symbolic image, one of Immortan Joe's "wives" removes the shackles around her crotch and kicks it away. Mad Max is liberating towards its females, and drops hints at the savage nature of men throughout the film, with writing on the walls of the citadel reading "Who killed the world?" and "We are not things". It's refreshing to see such balance in such a film.
Fury Road is a masterpiece of action, an uncompromising blockbuster with a unique and original vision. All the visual elements are in place but by an hour and a half, the spectacle wears off. It may not leave you with much to think about or feel after, but it's a great time at the movies and it plays to a different tune than most summer blockbusters. I know I'll be present at any future installments.