A Mind-Explodingly-Good Eye-Orgasm of Ecstatic Delight

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2015)

I waited THIRTY-FOUR YEARS for another REAL Mad Max flick (that 1985 monstrosity with Tina Turner does not exist to me) and I never thought I'd see the day. Well, my pain and patience was worth it in the end; I've been rewarded with a mind-explodingly-good eye-orgasm of ecstatic delight.
This is seriously the most bad-ass action flick I have seen in years (the word 'ever' briefly flits through my brain...). It is classic Mad Max, over-the-top, crazy-weirdness done better and badder...and even beautiful in some of the few spots it slows down enough to focus on something still. It is dark, ruthless and brutal, yet at the same time hopeful, with a powerful message of warning: Greed Kills...Everything.
To say that Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron are both brilliant in bringing their roles of Max and Furiosa to life is a given. The complexity of each of their painful pasts, along with their respective hopes for redemption (or resignation to penance), weaves gracefully through the fabric of their personas and within the fiery, desperate gleam in their painfully dusty eyes. However, it is the unexpectedly shiny performance of Josh Helman (Slit) that held me fixated throughout his screen time. His is like the bubbles in a cold glass of sparkling water; the extra tickling enjoyment that thoroughly quenches one's thirst. Slit has such blossoming, full character arc for a supporting rolesingle-minded loyalty, anger, goodness, surprise, delight, and yet, poignancyand he delivers each facet so perfectly and seamlessly one isn't sure what's coming from him next. He is that shiny bubble floating speedily through that glass of water to its inevitable destination, but the path that bubble takes around the ice cubes is unpredictable, and you can't take your eyes off of it.
Did I say it was good? Did I mention I want to do it again...like, right NOW??
Thank you SO much George Miller. And, please, sir...may we soon have another drink of your glorious, sparkling water?