Cult fare given the full blockbuster treatment

Rating: 5/10 (3 March 2016)

Watching this film is like stepping into a lurid dime store novel. The setting is mostly desert and open road. The backdrop changes colors with the mood. The action feels spontaneous and inventive as vehicles explode and skinheads fly through the air like acrobats. The primary antagonist is a decrepit megalomaniac who monopolizes the water supply and literally milks and breeds women while driving his fanatical minions to self-destruct. To make this all less tawdry, his captive wives discover feminism and escape with a butch heroine, her posse of old biker chicks, and a romantic sap named Nux. Max helps guide the lost ladies to their true utopia. That, in a nutshell, is Mad Max: Fury Road. Sure, there's more--cretins with distracting deformities, a midget, a pregnant woman with an exposed belly, etc.--but none of it really matters. The world and its characters have a pulpy comic book shallowness. Either you like them or you don't. If you're not a fan, the fantastic visuals may not be enough to sustain you for two hours.
Rating based on five factors, each worth up to 2 points: Sound: 2; Acting/Characterization: 0.5; Script: 0.5; Visuals: 2; Concept (Plot/Theme): 0.5
Total accumulated score: 5.5; Rating based on gut feeling: 5; Average final rating: 5.25