Cool but so empty.

Rating: 7/10 (1 October 2015)

In some post-apocalyptic desert a guy is captured by a bunch of guys. He's kept as a source of blood for ill citizens of the citadel. In charge of it all is some old guy who's wasting away. He's controls the water in the area and keeps the population below the rock in misery and thirst. Occasionally he opens the floodgates and lets water run down to the masses who adore him, at least that day. One day he sends some select few to gather weapons in exchange for water.
But on the way to this exchange the girl driving the truck (a Charlize Theron ruined by a super short haircut) changes routes and goes rogue. The rest of the entourage is confused until they realize what she's doing and go after her. Among those driving after her is a sick guy who has the guy from the intro chained the the front of the car. Eventually the guy has his chance and frees himself. This is at a point when he and the other rogue truck are by themselves. Turns out the girl is transporting a bunch of nymphs to safety. The ruler enraged, goes after them himself with a convoy of crazies.
The girl aims to reach 'the green place' and our hero joins forces with her of sorts after they realize that they are no threat to each other. First they have to escape the the other gang with whom the deal was going to take place. More violence ensues. The girl meets a couple of girls to whom she's related. And they decide that the best course of action is to drive back and take over the citadel and eliminate the ruler.
The first 45 minutes or so of Mad Max are quite exhilarating. It could have been even better if our lead character weren't bound and wearing a mask that won't allow him to speak but only grunt. But dialogue is definitely not a strength of this movie. There is very little of it, and what there is, is rather adolescent. Story-wise it's absolutely mind-boggling how 2/3 of the way into the story they decided to turn things around and basically repeat the first 1/3 making a good chunk pointless. For a moment things do pick up as for a while the movie had lost plenty of steam. So we have a movie that's 30 minutes too long and completely wastes a character that should have been a lead. What you're left with is wondering at the visuals and this neat world they created. For an R-rated action movie this one is rather mild and could have benefited from gorier sequences and some nudity.