Admirable in its commitment and scale, but certainly not what the hype suggests

Rating: Null/10 (26 September 2015)

It seemed to me that few people did not totally love this film, and I cannot think of any time on social media or reviews that I saw many negative words about it. So I was keen to see it once it came to being released for the home viewing. Undeniably the film is committed to what it is doing and it seems determined to make this world real simply by the force of its own will. As a result there does not seem any excess that is out of place, even if for me personally this also worked against the film. The simple plot allows the action to be the all, and in some ways it is enjoyably metallic – with impacts, grinding of parts, the smell of grease. However on the other side the sense of vaudeville that it has detracts from the actual feeling of tension and violence it should have. That it didn't manage to draw me into its creation meant that the constant action felt like a show rather than something with real consequence and risk.
That is not to say that it isn't enjoyable, because as a show it is often quite the show. I am not sure why this content-light blockbuster got so much praise versus any other blockbuster heavy on action but light on plot, but it did. Visually it is endlessly interesting; the crazy nonsense of the vehicles and the action sequences combine with some great cinematography – over-saturating everything and adding to that sense of otherworldly extremes. The cast do the same and have that 'committed' approach that the film has – whether their performances make sense or not. Theron is the most engaging of the piece, with a very strong and yet emotive character. Hardy is a good presence but surprisingly not particularly interesting as a title character. Hoult is better, and the female support characters see good turns from Huntington- Whiteley (I know – surprising), Kravitz, Eaton, and others.
It is a film that simply does what it sets out to do and doesn't seem to worry about whether it will work or not. In this way it does have strong forward motion, and never lack confidence. However the sense of performance and show to it does rob it of a hook to draw the viewer in, and as such it is always a blockbuster, even if the grimy metallic aspects suggest it is more 'proper' than other films doing much the same for a wider audience. Good for what it is, but certainly not worthy of the endless waves of praise hitting it this summer.