Movie Review : Mad Max Fury Road

It has been 30 years since the last Mad Max movie appeared in theaters. The 1st 3 movies featured a young Mel Gibson in the title role and helped propel his movie career here in America. With this relaunch we now have Tom Hardy of Inception and Batman fame in the lead role. A shaved head Charlize Theron is also a main player in what Warner Bros hopes is the start of another money making franchise.

As a child I came across all 3 of the movies that starred Mel Gibson but I don't remember how or when as when they were released I was 5, 7 and 11 so I know I didn't see them in the theaters. Guess when the parents were away I snuck watched them on TV. I have always been fascinated with post-apocalyptic themed movies/books/games etc and these films fit the bill. Loved the Mel Gibson flicks and I like Tom and Charlize so I had to give this new go around a shot.

Highlights :

• Charlize back in a down and gritty role. She is a pretty lady but other than "The Italian Job" her best parts/performances have been when she "uglys" down.
• Top notch vehicle chases. 
• Doesn't try to pretend it's something when it's not. This movie is just an excuse to see mayhem and action with disregard to any form of a so called plot.
• A character that plays only the guitar and nothing else while the vehicle they are attached to is in constant battle. Adds nothing to the film but I for some reason enjoyed watching it on screen and laughed every time he showed up.
• Film presents new ways to do battle as there are various new techniques on display that I haven't seen before.

Low Lights :

• At times it was very hard to hear what characters were saying. A real problem when you were trying to catch their names which a lot I did not.
• While I knew this was a action film 1st and everything else was secondary I would have appreciated a little more plot. Even for a summer film the plot here is sparse.
• The director either didn't care if you knew about past Mad Max movies or just assumed you did and that is why you are watching this new entry into the franchise but some history into the world of Max would also have been appreciated to this viewer.

Final Thoughts :

I knew going in what to expect for the most part and that is what I ended up getting from this film. I wanted to see mayhem and lots of explosions with multiple vehicle chases and I was not disappointed in that aspect. While I enjoyed seeing all of that I felt that the movie was about 15-20 minutes too long. Unlike Avengers 2 which is about the same time length that movie did a better job of moving the story along in between the big battle/action scenes which this movie did not. I wanted to know more of Mad Max and his history/nightmares and also how Charlize's character was where she was prior to meeting Max. They inform us how but from that time to present time (years between) we don't know what drove her to be who she is and why she is doing what she is doing. Again, a little back story on characters would have been nice.

So while this movie delivers on the action front it fails in the story area but with that said it is a Mad Max movie in the summer movie season and that is basically what I should have expected to see. For me I guess I wanted just a little more out of this film. Mad Max fans and action junkies will absolutely love this film and would grade it much higher on their own scale I'm sure but for me it gets dinged for being too much of a mindless movie. In the end though if you are going to watch this watch it on a big screen to appreciate the action as a home viewing would take away from it I feel.

Final Grade :

B-/C+

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin