Cast: Tom Hardy movies fall into two categories: The ones I've seen and the ones I will see. Charlize Theron is great, not just in her Academy Award nominated roles (Did anyone else see Young Adult? That one is still hitting me). Nicholas Hoult is one of those actors who I haven't loved in anything yet (Warm Bodies and X-Men were fun) but I'm ready to find something. Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Zoe Kravitz are the only others in the cast I know by name. This is a largely unrecognizable supporting cast and it doesn't really matter. While the performances are great all, they are secondary to the action blitz happening for most of the movie.
Plot: Max (Hardy) is a prisoner of Immortan Joe, a warlord/god/governor of - I guess you'd call it - a city in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Imperator Furiosa (Theron) kidnaps/rescues Immortan Joe's slave-wives. Nux (Hoult) is a disciple of Immortan Joe's who is part of the group trying to recapture the wives. Max, Furiosa, Nux, and the wives spend the movie trying to outrace Immortan Joe, his small army, and his assorted allies. That's all there really is to the plot. That's all there needs to be. It's fitting that most of the movie takes place in cars because the film is constantly moving. It's divided into chapters, all different action sequences that left me breathless at times and always engaged. The chases and battles are all brilliantly and beautifully staged as well as tightly edited.
Elephant in the Room: I haven't seen the original movies. Neither have I. All you need to know is that this is the future, the Earth is decimated, and it's apparently easier to come by oil than water. I'm sure some context is gained by more familiarity with George Miller's first three installments, but this is very much a stand-alone movie. The beginning is a little disorienting. It doesn't take long to catch up though.
To Sum Things Up:
The bar has been set for the action movies this year. Good luck, Ant Man, Star Wars, et al. Kingsman was cute. Furious 7 had a lot of spectacle. Age of Ultron was a good effort. Fury Road easily outdoes them. I'm not sure the last movie I saw that was as balls to the walls as Fury Road. It's so well staged and intense that it's hard to believe this is from the director who's sole credits over the last 18 years are Babe: Pig in the City and a couple Happy Feet movies. I've been looking for the words for this movie for a couple days and all I can come up with is "grab you popcorn, sit back*, and enjoy".
*For as long as you can. It's easy to get swept up.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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