The Best Mad Max Yet

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2015)

Max is back and better than ever! I know "The Road Warrior" is a classic, but I'm saying that this is the best "Mad Max" film to date. The reboot is a whirlwind of a thrill ride and keeps viewers on the edge of their seats for the who two-hour run time (making it the longest film in the series.)
"Fury Road" finds Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky, a man burdened by glimpses of the past and a little girl he was unable to protect. He is a loner, a drifter, and a man of very few words. After being taken prisoner by a group of warriors who paint themselves white and believe they are working to make it to Valhalla, Max escapes during one of the many intense fuel-guzzling battles on the Fury Road and decides to help Furiosa (played wonderfully by Charlize Theron) and a group of young women who are attempting escape and freedom by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays- Byrne, who played the villain in the first installment as well), the evil leader of the citizens of the Citadel who uses the women as slaves to give birth to his children.
The performances in the film are nothing short of great and satisfying. Hardy doesn't say much as Max, and he doesn't have to. Every gesture and grunt he makes is good enough and he fills the shoes vacated by Mel Gibson very well. Theron gives us a strong, independent woman warrior in Furiosa, one of the best characters to appear in the franchise and on screen this year. Another wonderful addition is Nicholas Hoult, who plays a distraught and anxious warrior who switches to the good side after failing in the eyes of Immortan Joe.
The film lives for its action sequences, which is fantastic because director George Miller is the king of action. Also, this is what the series was practically built on, something that was forgotten in the very disappointing "Beyond Thunderdome." The audience is given the pleasing feeling we felt while watching "The Road Warrior," and then we are given more..and more...and more until we are so filled with excitement that it is hard to sit still. The film has a good plot that the action enhances.
If anything, this film is a shout-out to the number of failed modern action films. While the first "Mad Max" revolutionized the action film in the late 1970s, this film sets the bar for modern films of the genre. I've heard that the film is eighty percent practical events instead of CGI, and that in itself in achievement. With this in mind, there were numerous times in the film where I wondered just how Miller did what he did. The seventy-year-old director has excelled where a number of young filmmakers have failed and has brought us what might be the best action film in years.
This seems to be a new start for the "Mad Max" franchise. The original trilogy was probably good enough, but if the upcoming films are this great, they can make as many as they want until George Miller is unable to continue. Keep the excellent Tom Hardy in the lead, and keep on amazing us with the unbelievable stunts and action sequences. It's about time we had an action/adventure franchise film like this. Take notes Michael Bay...