Mad Max: Fury Road (SPOILER FREE)

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road is the forth installment in the Mad Max franchise and is directed by George Miller, who directed all of the previous Mad Max movies. This movie stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Hoult.
In a post apocalyptic world where water and gasoline are scarce, Furiosa (Theron) kidnaps a crazy warlord's "wives" to set them free. She is pursued by hordes of the warlord's followers, called War Boys. Along the way, she encounters Max Rockatansky (Hardy) and together they struggle to escape with the newly freed wives.
Full of nonstop action and mind-blowing practical effects, Mad Max: Fury Road was an incredible film. George Miller returns to continue the franchise at age 70 and still creates a thrill ride of a movie. The director's use of practical effects, caused the movie as a whole to be elevated. Visually, this movie was perfect. There wasn't one flaw. Audiences were pulled into the world of Mad Max and didn't relax until credits rolled.
This movie should have been titled "Furiosa: Fury Road (and Mad Max is there too)", but audiences got Mad Max: Fury Road. Charlize Theron as Furiosa was the backbone of the of this film. She the most interesting and driven character in the film, even more so then the title character. Charlize Theron perfectly displays the Furiosa's desperate drive for freedom. Female audiences finally have a strong female bad-ass character that doesn't take crap from anyone. But the writing for this character doesn't form her as a stone cold killer. There is a scene where Furiosa breaks down and Charlize Theron is given a chance to express all the rage, depression, and conflict that has built up inside her character. Furiosa is a breath of fresh air in the action genre.
Tom Hardy takes over the role of Max Rockatansky from Oscar Winner Mel Gibson. There was a lot of anticipation to see if Hardy could live up to the shadow cast by Gibson. Although Max wasn't the main focus of this addition to the franchise, Hardy delivers a convincing performance that stays true to the character created by his processor. Max's character in the movie acts as great support for Furiosa and deepens her for the audience. The main attraction for Max in this movie is that he is a familiar character that fans of the previous Mad Max films can recognize and root for.
Nicholas Hoult plays the War Boy Nux in this film. Hoult's character is a new and innovative idea: the audience gets a clear view of the enemies Max has been fighting for all these movies. Nux (Hoult) had a great development as a character and we could see him change throughout the film. Hoult managed to display conflict inside his character with very limited dialogue. He created a whole new side of the villains that the previous Mad Max films couldn't.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a masterpiece of practical effects and amazing stunts. The action in the movie is unparalleled. George Miller created the most intense and reckless action packed film of 2015 so far. Where most movies settle using CGI and green-screen to create their action, Fury Road uses amazing stunt work and actual explosions. The movie is essentially one giant chase sequence, but a chase has never been filmed so well. All the driving is shot from beautiful wide shots including all the important elements to the scene. Even during the brawls, the movie hardly had any "quick cut sequences" that change the shot. Better yet, shaky camera was avoided entirely in this film. The audience is sucked into this brutal world of chases, gun fights, and brawls, because the entire film is enhanced by the high quality action.
Although the action was perfect, this movie as a whole isn't faultless. When you break down the story, there is no real plot. Granted the action of this movie manages to overshadow the lack of story in this film, but under it all the plot is still missing. The entire plot is based on Furiosa (Theron) taking a wrong turn. That is it. This movie was insane. There were War Boys jumping onto cars while swinging chainsaws and blind people shooting twin machine guns. The craziness of this movie can be a negative thing for some audience members. The audience that disliked the previous Mad Max films, won't find much if any joy from Fury Road. It stays true to the roots of its franchise as well as tops it off with more insanity.
Mad Max: Fury Road is an amazing film whether you are a returning fan of the franchise or a newcomer and gets a 9.0/10 stars.