Allow me to pick my jaw up off the floor.  It’s hard to explain Mad Max: Fury Road because I can’t remember an experience like it.  It’s an action masterpiece that pummels you from the start and allows you moments of levity that hit so much harder because of how seldom they come.  I’m a huge fan of the original Mad Max trilogy but this movie is something different.  There’s more vision and the world feels more complete, that’s possibly due to the fact that we’ve been here before but I also think it’s because visionary director George Miller had 15 years to put together this film and it all comes together brilliantly.

I almost feel bad for any other film I see in the near future because of what they have to measure up to now.  Mad Max: Fury Road assaults your senses on every level until you feel like you’re almost going to burst.  Several times I was shifting in my chair and literally holding my breath because of what was happening on the screen.  Before we go too far let’s talk plot, Max is captured, he’s strapped to the hood of a car to chase a war rig and awesome shit happens.  There ya go, because really nothing else matters.  Yes there’s a backstory of Max’s regret for not saving those before, a story about a cult of people who follow a masked man, a story of a woman on a mission to save those enslaved and redemption but if you’ve seen the trailer then you know what we all came to see and that’s amazing action.  What’s insane about this film is that as outstanding and as crazy as the trailer looks…well that’s basically all taken from the first action set piece, there is so much more.  There are things that are done here that I’ve never seen before and they’re so expertly and fantastically done that you literally can’t help but be gobsmacked.

I’m intentionally being vague about a lot of things because this is a movie that has to be seen to be believed.  So let’s talk performances because there is a true star of this film and no, it’s not Tom Hardy.  Hardy is solid and at times shows flashes of pure physical brilliance.  He’s more a force than a character and in reality this isn’t even exactly a Mad Max film, he’s more the vehicle with which we experience the story of Charlize Theron and her character, Imperator Furiosa.  Theron is amazing, she shines and you can’t take your eyes off her.  Hers is the story that becomes the main force of the film and when you actually get time to breathe, she is outstanding. Her world is pain and you believe every single shot. In fact, that for me is what sets this film apart, the world that’s created.  Danger, fury, death and pain are around every corner and you feel that menace.  Very little is explained about the world you’re in yet it all makes sense, survival is the only thing that matters.

The movie isn’t perfect, it certainly has its issues but believe me they are few and far between.  A character’s redemptive turn happens too suddenly, the reasoning for the final act of the film seems thin but seriously, there is nothing like the experience I had.  This is a symphony of carnage and metal where every note is hit to almost perfection.  This is the best film I’ve seen this year and I’ll be singing it’s praises to anyone who will listen.

Recommend? Whatever you’re doing right now, just stop and go see this fantastic movie.