High Octane Action - The Best Apology for Thunderdome Miller Could Ever Make

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2015)

Mad Max 4 should be titled: Apologies for Thunderdome.
While the third movie wasn't completely awful, it diluted the power of the American titled "Road Warrior" or as we called it in England where I first saw it, "Mad Max 2". By the time the third movie came along in 1985, I could actually see the damn film without somebody telling us it was a "video nasty" and something we shouldn't see.
Fast forward 20 years to 2015 and a massive marketing campaign for Mad Max: Fury Road. First thought - thank you George Miller for this movie, it's as good as an apology for Thunderdome as I could hope for. Do I like the movie as much as the pinnacle of the series, Road Warrior? I do not. Why? Max isn't so much as maximus as minimus to Charlize Theron's Imperator Fursiosa. She's the *real* hero of this movie. Max plays a supporting role, and you know, maybe that's OK.
First off, despite being an action movie, this is an adult's movie. It feels more like a 70's movie with adult themes, reactions and action than EVERY other action movie this year. It's a testament to this film that I watched every trailer BEFORE the movie minus the hopeful Ant- Man and thought, "There's no way I'm watching that sh***y movie".
The best movie this year is 'It Follows', but guess what? Mad Max: Fury Road is a solid #2.
Things I love. The plot has no story arcs. It's like a Japanese Kurosawa movie. Max and a bunch of ladies have to escape an evil daddy figure and that's it. Simple set up then ... action.
What follows is all logical minus the way Max gets kicked up onto another vehicle to help save the day. People die when you don't expect them too. Not because you want it or it's appropriate, just because, s*** happens. I loved the non-calculatedness of Mad Max.
Max isn't the hero you've been looking for. Furiosa is. The mission is righteous, but geez, this is an imagined and detailed world where barely anything makes sense. My favorite thing was how a bad brainless goon becomes the ultimate self-sacrificing hero without it feeling forced. That's good movie making.
In conclusion, American audiences don't often see this kind of movie. It doesn't follow format. It's exactly why Avengers: Age of Ultron failed. Joss Whedon is super talented but he was *contained* by rules of his own making. George Miller has NONE. He made a movie about a sometimes great, sometimes victimized called Max who helps a truly heroic and hopeful being called Furiosa make the world just a little less shitty.
For the authenticity and trueness of the story and acting, I give this movie a high 8/10.