Surprisingly Suspenseful and Epic

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2016)

A woman (Charlize Theron) rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post apocalyptic Australia in search for her homeland with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max (Tom Hardy).
Without a doubt, "Mad Max" is the surprise success of 2015. While it is not surprising that a big budget reboot of a popular science fiction series would be a commercial success, how could anyone have predicted it would be a critical darling as well? And yet, it has found its way on to numerous top ten lists and picked by many as the movie of the year. "Mad max" even has the second most nominations for the Oscars, which is unbelievable.
The movie has its shortcomings. The plot is... well, more or less non-existent. There is almost no character development. And even if you know the mythology of Mad Max, it will be more than a little confusing for the first hour trying to figure out what "war rigs" are, and why a bunch of pale guys have Max strapped to a car. And why do we have a man with a flame-spouting guitar? What purpose does he serve? So it is not a shock that of its impressive list of nominations, none are for the writing or the acting. How could they be? While there is probably an art to scripting fights, this is really fleshed out on set. And the acting is... well... hard to say. Most of the good moments were probably handled by stunt people.
But the categories of costume, makeup, production design, effects and more are all clearly visible. Even the cinematography. This is a dystopian future in a desert, and yet Australia looks more vibrant than ever before. I would not expect the film to take home a cinematography award, but it is obvious why it was nominated. The best bet for a stature is in production design, and maybe in visual effects, but then they would have to fight off "Star Wars".
What will likely happen is "Mad Max" ends up being the biggest loser of the Oscar ceremony. With ten nominations, it has just about the most to lose... it will be lucky to go home with one or two. Because, frankly, the Best Picture nomination is a fluke. This is not the sort of film that typically gets the nomination, and it is far less likely to win when it is supported by mostly technical achievements. It simple does not have the dramatic weight of competitors "Revenant" or "The Martian".
The odds are better for a Best Director win. While this is unlikely, it is not impossible. Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Tom McCarthy are the front-runners, but "Max" and director George Miller can edge out "Room" and "Big Short", right? Seeing a cult director from Australia win would be incredible. Not likely, but possible, and certainly a nice change...