Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

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The Mad Max franchise is back again after 30 years. The story is relatively simple and straightforward. Our titular hero, Max Rockatansky, is a former cop who struggles to survive in a post-apocalyptic barren wasteland where people simply rob and kill you for water, food or gasoline due to the scarcity of resources. Nothing makes much sense anymore in this world as many newborns would die young due to poor health. Max prefers to be left alone but tend to get caught up with strangers he needs to help along the way.

First and foremost, I have to say that the world-building in Mad Max was one of its kind. The designs of the vehicles, set, weapons and character costumes were out of this world and unique. The ugliness and harshness of the world is clearly presented throughout the film as we can see that most of the villains were dressed in weird costumes and makeups to show their abnormalities as well.

The entire film is packed with fast-paced, loud, chaotic and bombastic mad action violence from start to finish but not gory to the point that it feels disgusting. There are lots of gun-fighting and car chasing, crashes, destructions and explosions along the way. Thankfully, each action scene is each to its own and it doesn't  feel repetitive. It was said that most of the action scenes were real, carefully planned and mostly achieved via practical means.

The main leads, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron both put a fine performance for this new installment. However, Tom Hardy's character, Max does take a backseat and seemed like a supportive role for Charlize Theron's new character, Furiosa who stole the main villain's most prized possessions - his five wives (Take note that in a post-apocalyptic world, there aren't many fertile beautiful women for breeding). There's a noticeable feminist element, "We are not your things/properties!", voiced out by the Five Wives in this film. Throughout the film, we can see these five beautiful women tried desperately to free themselves from the authoritative rule of a mad man, King Immortan Joe.

One of my biggest gripe of this film is that there isn't much character development as the main focus is entirely on the wild and crazy cat-and-mouse action chase between the good and bad guys. The story never spends too much time on character backstories and their tragic pasts (but it's briefly shown and hinted through hallucinations though). The action is no doubt impressive and feels epic but none of the emotional scenes (yes, there are quite a few in this one) are memorable enough to make a lasting impression. Overall, it's an entertaining action thriller from beginning to the end with spectacular visuals. Action junkies would definitely be pleased with it. Watch it for the action.


Note: You don't really need to watch the first three films for this one. Our main character's backstory is briefly shown or mentioned in this film and it's easily understood. There's another sequel in the works as well, titled Mad Max: The Wasteland.


Rating: 7/10

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Next Review: The Age of Adaline