Cars, Carnage & Crazies

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2015)

Mad Max Fury Road is everything you've never expected from a modern day action movie. And if you've set your expectations low or aren't into post-apocalyptic movies, you'll be in for a surprise. And by the end of it, you'd have wished that you'd never thought so low about George Miller's ambitious masterpiece.
30 years since the fourth movie, George Miller sets Mad Max Fury Road in a world where almost everybody has gone insane, including its lead, Max Rockatansky. The plot is paper thin and its nothing but an escort mission, lead by Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa, through barren post-apocalyptic wastelands and chased by the main antagonist, Immortan Joe and his maniac War Boys. This is a standalone movie and can hold strong on its own, but if you do want to get into the tone and mood of Mad Max, you oughta watch the old trilogy as it also sheds some light on Max's story and arguably on who Immortan Joe really would be.
Its one orgasmic chase sequence, from start to end, and there is little room for character development. But who's complaining when you are glued to your seats, entertained shitless with its almost unrelenting brutal action. Nothing can prepare you for the intense action in Mad Max Fury Road and this review might feel meaningless until and unless you've experienced it. Its all out gritty and it'd help if you've got a wicked sense of humour. You are also not given much time to think as you are pushed from to one action set piece to the next.
As Max, Tom Hardy does have an ample role to play in the narrative, but this is essentially a Furiosa movie set in the Mad Max universe. Charlize Theron's Furiosa is indeed the lead protagonist and Max just accompanies here in her insanely dangerous 'road trip' and you cant help but applause at Theron's strong performance here. I am not a huge Nicholas Hoult fan, but in Mad Max he delivers as Nux. As for Immortan Joe, Hugh Keays-Byrne delivers and it is a real feat when he has a mask on which covers most of his face. It would have been great if they had shown his face at least once, at least for old time's sake to see how 'Toecutter' from the original looked like now.
The visuals, doubtlessly, are spectacular and what adds to the sheer beauty of it are practical effects. We've all been conditioned to watching and, growing on, CGI heavy movies this past decade and the difference here could be instantaneously felt. Its not completely devoid of CGI wizardry but practical effects dominates the visuals here and its nothing less than eye popping. For the first time, normal 3D felt serviceable and at the same time I kept repenting that I didn't see it in IMAX. You know its good when you see your partner dodging car parts and entrails every now and then. Normal 3D does wash out, what would have otherwise been, a brilliant color palette and the end result is a somewhat dark and de-saturated film. Exceptional sound design and Junkie XL's background score is the cherry on top.
Compared to the old trilogy, The Road Warrior still stands supreme. Suffice to say, Mad Max Fury Road had me, breathless, gaping at the extremely well choreographed action sequences. I had to wait a few hours before I could collect my thoughts on the movie and rant about it. This is by far the best action movie I have seen this year, OH YES, much better than Avengers Age Of Ultron. As for the feminism critique revolving this movie.WHO CARES! This here is a fine piece of action cinema, Thank you, George Miller!