Hell has never been shot so beautifully. In the future, after several wars, the world is a nothing but a shadow of its former self. Water and oil have become scarce and the world has changed into a big desert. Max (Tom Hardy) has survived it all, but is still struggling with visions of people he wasn´t able to save. He´s captured by the War Boys, a private army of tyrannical Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and is used as a “bloodbag” for a sick War Boy, Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a confidante of Immortan Joe. Her assignment is to drive a big truck, the War Rig, to a nearby town to get gasoline. She leaves, but leaves the road and when Immortan Joe realizes what she´s doing, he sends out his War Boys to stop her. Max involuntarily gets involved as he´s strapped on the front of one of the cars and he has to try to survive.
Knowledge of the previous Mad Max installments isn´t needed to watch this new one. Right from the start this film makes a huge impression. Within a short period of time it paints its world, with its bright orange and blue colours, and society. What´s great is that the film doesn´t explain everything, but as you´re watching it you quickly get an idea about everyone´s role and motivation. When the characters enter their vehicles the movie is one big chase, which would easily end up high in a top 10 of best chases ever.
There are several reasons for that. First it´s the way the vehicles look, often made out of part of several cars and with aggressive looking accents and extreme additions. The number of unique vehicles is spectacular and while watching it you´d wish to see more of them. There is one which consists of speakers, where a guitarist is playing heavy metal music with a fire-spitting guitar to motivate the rest, a car on tank tracks or a Volkswagen Beetle that´s easily compared to a hedgehog with its huge number of spikes. Secondly the way the action has been executed. The reason for this is that almost everything is done with practical effects, which grounds it all firmly into reality. It results in spectacular results with breath-taking moments. Thirdly everything looks beautiful and there are shots you would like to pause and study them as a painting. A scene in which the cars drive through a storm is a beautiful example of it, but not the only one.
Although the movie is called Mad Max, that character plays a relatively small role, as most of the time he´s part of a group. The real story is about Furiosa, strongly played by Theron, who wants to realise her dream together with the rest of her team. The story might not be amazing, but it is enough to give the film its drive. You care for the characters and believes their motivation.
After seeing the movie your car will no longer feel like a modern vehicle, but for a moment you think you are driving in the world of Mad Max. Hell has never looked so beautiful, but I can´t wait to revisit it again soon.
