Mad Max: Fury Road Review

It's been a while since I've seen a film I genuinely wish lasted twice as long but the latest instalment in the Mad Max franchise managed to draw me in immediately and kept me totally engrossed throughout its two hour run time.

Mad Max himself, now portrayed by Tom Hardy

For no reason in particular I hadn't paid nearly enough attention to Mad Max: Fury Road in the lead up to its release. I'd obviously heard of the previous films but hadn't really begun to think about watching them.

Then one Friday night, slightly intoxicated, a stranger came up to me at the bar. Within seconds we were talking about our favourite films of the past year and he could not stop recommending what he called an 'epic non-stop fight on wheels.'

Of course I was immediately intrigued.

The morning after I woke up and there was one thing on my mind. I had to watch this film.

I was not lied to, the film was a masterpiece. From the raspy narration over the black screen I was hooked.

The whole thing was visually striking, everything looked amazing, even compared to some of the best scenes we've seen recently such as The Martian. The vast desert could so easily have become a dreary bore, however every scene seems fresh and introduces new breath into the surroundings.

Scenes are shot in a way I have never witnessed before. The escape scene right at the start of the film, where several frames are intentionally skipped, was one of my favourite bits. A high compliment when you take into account there wasn't a moment of the film I didn't like.

And then there are the characters and their vehicles. Since the majority of the film takes place on four wheels (or sometimes two), it was a very big relief to see the effort that had been put into the design. Each vehicle was different and introduced new elements to the film to make sure repetitive was not a word going through my head.

The design that went into this makes me very very happy

The main characters also stand out, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron shine as they so very often do, both managing to command but share their scenes beautifully. Obviously I haven't seen the earlier films (though I intend to as soon as possible) and cannot compare Hardy's performance to the previous reincarnation of Max, played by Mel Gibson. However I can say that he seemed to play the role in a way that portrayed his character exactly how it should in each situation.

I also really enjoyed the performance of Nicholas Hoult as Nux, a war boy. He immediately stood out, something that he needed to since he plays one war boy in an army of thousands of almost identical ones. Immediately loveable, even for a bad guy, Hoult will still have you rooting for the excitably loyal soldier.

Nicholas Hoult shines as war boy Nux

And whilst we're talking about characters and vehicles can we just take a moment to appreciate the amazing design of the monster truck with a flaming guitar wielding blind man. Easily the coolest thing I have ever seen in film, and when you think it can't get any better they include him in a fight scene.

This guitarist is definitely the best character in the whole film

Overall I was very very pleasantly surprised by this film. I would go as far as saying it immediately goes into one of my favourites of all time and the fact that I was so clueless going into it made every second that bit sweeter. Every minute is non-stop action but the story and characters aims remain in the helm for the entirety of the film.

Niall's Rating: 92%