Max Max: Fury Road (no spoilers)

[Roger]

I went and saw the new Mad Max movie last night and I think they must have spent nearly every penny on the vehicles in the movie. Without spoiling anything, this is very much a reboot and not tied to the previous movies in any way, other than the basic setting. It was fairly simple plot-wise but the action and stunts were absolutely over-the-top. They didn't use any CG for any of the car stunts, everything was an actual physical car doing its thing. The only things I think might have been CG were some fire effects, possibly the dust storm (although I think the initial shot of it may have been done with a cloud tank, it is hard to say) and wire removal.

 

If you want an idea of the level of craziness: there is what appears to be some sort of modifed military vehicle with guys beating drums on the back of it, and a 12 foot high wall of speakers on the front with an elevated stage and some guy playing a flame-throwing guitar. Throw in a muscle car on tank treads and 2 '59 DeSotos that have been welded together and put on monster truck tires and you have examples of some of the more interesting vehicle mash-ups.

 

While you don't go to this type of movie for Shakespeare quality dialog, the characters are pretty fleshed-out and some of the more minor characters have interesting character arcs. Tom Hardy is a believable (if mostly silent) Max and Charlize Theron plays a mechanical-armed raider seeking to atone for her past.

 

I saw the 3D version but wasn't overly impressed by the use of 3D, so I don't think much would be lost seeing it in 2D. This is definitely the type of film that deserves to be seen in a larger format, though, such as IMAX.

 

All in all, I'd say it is worth a look. They left it open for further films, assuming it does well at the box office I'd say we haven't seen the last of Max Max.