Bombastic, grandiose, intelligent and wickedly entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2015)

There aren't many action films that do much for me. Usually, the story itself isn't engaging enough for me, and sometimes the action just becomes way too overwhelming to the point that I become desensitized to it and lose interest pretty much. In fact, this is what happened to the rest of the Mad Max films. I think all are decent, but great? Not really. So I was super excited for this because of all of the acclaim, but also hesitant
Thankfully, this film really did it for me. In terms of narrative structure, it's pretty straight- forward, but the universe created here is nothing short of outstanding, and the themes it's presenting are grandiose and powerful. For all of its madness (and yeah, it's truly mad), there's a sensitivity to the film that I can't really pinpoint. It's one of the loudest, busiest films I think I've ever seen, but the fact that its heart shines through and it actually comes across as honestly trying to tell a story about human nature, and not just putting it for show because it "needs" to have a story, is wildly impressive. Some of the dialogue is stuff to be expected, but the way the film paints these relationships without trying too hard really pays off. The film is able to maintain its madness and through it all actually resonate emotionally. That's a grand feat
But in terms of the action, wowza. Don't really know what else to say. Whereas many action films, and with a lot less action I may add, suffer from the way the action is filmed, nothing here does. The editing and cinematography need to be praised for that alone. There is so much happening and yet every scene comes across cleanly without any glaring problems. The film also cleverly overwhelms its first act with as much action as possible, and in its own way calms down after that. This helps to let viewers know that the classic "action film" structure will be broken, and it's done wonderfully.
To say that this is my favorite Mad Max film would be a huge understatement. It's glorious and majestic, wickedly bombastic and entertaining. Easily one of my favorite "action" films ever, and the only time I've been overwhelmed by an action film but was still able to enjoy it.