Masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2019)

I watched this for the second time yesterday, and it was as satisfying as the first time. Fury Road is a little masterpiece (for those asking why my rate is just 8, I think that higher ratings should be reserved to era-defining movies and such).
I'm not a fan of action flicks, nor I am of the Mad Max series; but this is a jewel in film making. Here are some notes:
1) Action, action, action. Fury Road is an adrenaline bomb from start to finish. While, as I stated, I'm not fond of action itself, when a movie keeps you on the edge for two hours I like it. The problem with most action movies is that you have seen it all before, more or less; in Fury Road, 90% of the action is something new: funny, over the top, superfast, acrobatic, and surprising. It's obvious that the sequences are written with sincere passion, rather than with that "let's stun the audience with special effects and milk their money!" mood, that's ever increasing nowadays.
2) While the photography deserves a mention itself for the over-saturated colors and the beautiful landscapes, the most important aspect about it is the action again. Photography is in service of action, and it does a wonderful job. Lots of scenes have a weird, fast framerate, that gives the movie a distinctive, funny, and obviously "speedy" look. Dozen of takes filming the explosions are made through old-fashioned fixed cameras mounted on the vehicles, so that you're thrown into the action for real - not like in today's movies, where odd and complicated digital camera movements take away all the emotions.
3) The story. It's original and surprising, something of a "move on from the same old tropes". It starts and ends in an old-fashioned way, because it has to stay in its roots, but all what's in between is absolutely fresh. Characters are funny, deep, and all enjoy their personal arc.
4) Max himself. Tom Hardy is a great replacement, and I'll say he's even better than Mel Gibson (or, something more on pace with the times). His grunts, short lines, and facial expressions (often subtly ironic) are just perfect. I'll also add that the rough, sharp way he moves and walk is a subtle and perfect rendering of that character, a man whose only goal is to survive.
5) The design of sets, costumes and cars. Beautiful.
6) The old-fashioned way: practical effects, little CGI, and the old way of shooting, as I mentioned. It's definitely better.
7) The last and most compelling aspect of this movie in my opinion is that it's totally over the top. Exaggerated characters, sequences, and language ("blood bag", "witness me", "shiny and chrome"). The guitar player, the models, the fight with the car door, the gun wielding blind man... everything in this movie is just mad. I like this a lot, it's some kind of post-modern, pulpish cinema.
Edit: I watched it for the third time, and I'd like to add,
8) It's built like a comic book, really, and I like this very much. The three villains are straight from a comic book in their characterization. Lots of sequences are edited like comics, with interconnected shots and wide angles opening and closing them. Some obscure details like the missing shoe, the jacket, the bullet-teeth and so on get their brief screen time and help build the sequences, that's another thing you find in comics.