Ish a shiksh

Rating: 6/10 (12 August 2016)

To escape the dungeon of a mad tyrant, a gun-toting loner teams up with a rebellious princess in her flight to paradise. Pursued by thousands of mad, mutant baxtards.
115 minutes of car chase, with a brief interlude to reflect at the start of act three. The pace is amazing, the locations spectacular, as the hunt whizzes along - assault vehicles that look like prickly dinosaurs, wan war-boys celebrating their jihadi death wish, and bizarro guitaro licks from a ship's figurehead.
The first part of the chase is like an old sea battle, as the tanker- galleon heaves across the desert ocean under heavy sniping fire. The second part is more like an aerial dogfight, with pole-fighters raining bombs from the air.
For all the fury, there is an attempt to set up different zones, different civilisations, as in any epic quest - but it doesn't work. Simply not enough care in the plotting and characterisation, although there is a degree of development. The actors are OK, but they can't deliver much to care about, and the interlude where the action gives way to motivation is very poor.
In the end even the locations turn out monotonous, and a scene where the green place comes into view is far too brief and, I think, misplaced. And all the time I was thinking about one of the anchors of the plot - the water supply - that doesn't make sense in its steampunk setting. Also the epilogue is disgustingly reactionary - reminds me of Pan's Labyrinth.
Music is hectic, nothing special.
Overall: Pacy and bland. Definitely not worth the Oscar hype.
ps. I guess all that milk should turn into human cheese. Weird, but tasty and nutritious.