Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Nearly a decade of development hell later, director George Miller returns to the 45-year-old franchise he created in this spin-off/prequel leading up to the events of Mad Max: Fury Road. This time 'round, Anya Taylor-Joy capably takes up the mantle as the titular character (previously portrayed by Charlize Theron) in an origin story that traces her ascent from child slave to burgeoning warrior.

This movie is essentially a shut-your-brain-off, balls-to-the-wall action spectacle. Chris Hemsworth (unrecognizable here) has a blast hamming it up as the villainous Dementus. If you enjoyed the previous entry, you'll find plenty to like here, although at 148 minutes, it will push you to the limits of your patience (and bladder capacity).

3 War-Rig prototypes out of 5

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

An emotionally damaged but toughened Max exists now as a kind of extension of the wasteland environment in which he moves. But he’s just one small part of the equation. In a world where construction has become a process whereby new things are bodged from old things, for some folks the gasoline that powers their machines is a commodity more precious than life. A noble purpose is something that tends to get you killed. Max finds a purpose.
Even though it’s occasionally rough around the edges, Road Warrior is the quintessential wasteland flick. The environments are perfect and the locations convincing. And while they’re worlds apart in almost every other way, it has the same kind of timeless quality as Conan the Barbarian (1982).

4 white line nightmares out of 5

Mad Max (1979)

As enjoyable as the first MM movie is, in hindsight it works better if you can look upon it as an extended prologue to the more entertaining MM 2 (1981), where the world is no longer on the verge of going to shit, as it is here, but has actually tipped over and fell face-first into it.
The first film has the feel of a B-Movie, but the on-the-road carnage is much better than what you’d normally get in that kind of commercial venture, and it’s not without some black humour to keep it from sinking under the weight of its own gloomy subject matter. The crew is to be applauded for making the scenario believable. Max, however, is kind of boring as a family man/highway interceptor, but gets a lot more interesting once he gets his ‘mad’ on.

3 fuel injected threshold moments out of 5

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD [2015]

After years of directing talking pigs and dancing cartoon penguins, director George Miller returns to the franchise that got him started with the bat-shit crazy action/adventure flick Mad Max: Fury Road.

It's essentially one big huge post-apocalyptic chase movie, packed with jaw-dropping vehicular warfare, with Tom Hardy filling in the title role with many an impressionable grunt, snort and occasional complete English sentence.  It's insane stunts and action sequences are choreographed and edited with such care you're left in complete awe of it's colorful visuals amidst the desolate wastelands.  It's strong female characters, particularly Charlize Theron's ass-kicker, heart-pounding music (courtesy of Junkie XL) and vibrant personality reminds one that the action films can be complete chaos but still shoot it with clear precision and care.  It's out to kick your ass across the floor and has a helluva lot of fun doing it.

4 axe-shredders out of 5