I think this movie is going to be what the fast and furious franchise will be like 100 years from now, Vin Diesel and the Rock in Furious 101: Post Apocalypse. I’m not sure exactly what I just watched but I know that I liked it!!
Mad Max: Fury road is the 4th movie in this popular 80’s franchise. I’ve never seen any of the originals but I have been told that this movie takes place between the second and third films. The story is about a post-apocalyptic world where a nuclear explosion has left the world with a water shortage. The people that control the water become kings and everyone else is left to either fall in line or be hunted. The story was the most confusing part of this movie for me. I don’t know if the world and mythos gets explained better in the original 3 films but I would have liked to see a lot more background on how the world works. We follow Max and Furiousa as they try to save the kings wives and find an oasis to escape to. I know I didn’t get it either.
This movie is all about the action, and it does not disappoint! This is one of the coolest action movies I have seen in a while. All of the beats were original and the effects seemed to be practical and real. This is basically a giant car chase movie but the cars and the camera work will leave you on the edge of your seat for most of the 2-hour movie.
With that being said, my problem with the film is that the action ate up any time spent to develop characters and plot lines. There is some heart in this film and some of the characters get some nice moments, but the world was so big it was hard to find motivation for what we are doing. Again this might be because I had no previous knowledge of the franchise ahead of time but I think the average person in the theaters wouldn’t have seen the originals either.
Overall, I think that the action was amazing and really fun but I would have liked to spend more time developing the plot and making me care about the characters and their quest.
My Score: See in theaters