Brutal, barbaric, beautiful

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2015)

Not just the best Mad Max movie. The best action film. Ever.
The two main characters are played extremely well for how little dialog is in the movie. Charlize Therone had the acting chops worthy of the franchise. I was a little concerned about a Max not played by Mel Gibson, being a huge fan of Road Warrior, but by the 2nd watch I was used to it. Tom Hardy is a different, less human Max, but still both a sympathetic and bad ass character.
The villains were the best, most complex characters in the franchise yet, with a sufficiently deep and broad back story as well as even some tangible humanity in them. Sure they were still villains and ultimately bad dudes, but in several scenes their mostly hidden redeeming qualities are revealed. They weren't all scumbags like most of the villains in the previous movies.
The photography is crisp and vibrant for a film that moves so fast. But the action isn't the jerky, hard-to-take-in, hand-held camera junk. You can satisfactorily absorb the entire movie blow by blow.
The costumes are right on. Outrageous without being over the top. Lots of possibilities for Halloween.
The best part... The score and soundtrack of this movie really bring out the beauty in the fury, and the chaos in the carnage. Between that and the emotion in the characters, especially the villains, this movie stands above the other 3, even Road Warrior, which was one of my favorites for decades.
The only reason I didn't give it a 10 is because there are still some things I would tweak.