Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) * *

Directed by:  George Miller

Starring:  Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Nathan Jones

Mad Max: Fury Road is a relentless assault on the viewer's senses, but to what end?     It is filled with wall-to-wall action, fury, and violence, but no reason to care about the outcome.     We have already seen three Mad Max movies from the 80s which more or less adequately covered the possibilities of life in a post-nuclear war apocalyptic wasteland.    The threat of such a thing becoming a reality was more real then, thus the films took on a more contemporary urgency.    Why do we need another trip back to this endless Outback desert?    

Mel Gibson is replaced in the title role by Tom Hardy, who is rugged and is a convincing physical presence.    His Max speaks less than any main character I've seen in many a long day.    I am glad Hardy wasn't paid by the word.    The plot focuses more on Furiosa (Theron), who serves as a driver for a powerful warlord and attempts to escape with the warlord's concubines, including a pregnant one, during a supply run.     She envisions returning to her home and family from which she was kidnapped as a child.   

Assisting the warlord in the chase is Nux (Hoult), a psychotic, physically ill follower who sees the mission as a chance to die for his warlord, which to him would be an honor.     He is a futuristic version of a Hitler Youth member.     By this time, Max had been captured by the warlord's thugs and is used as a human blood bag for Nux.      Pleasant thought.  

Theron provides as sympathetic a heroine as Mad Max: Fury Road can provide under the circumstances.    Nux undergoes interesting changes with a seemingly one-dimensional character.     The film tries its hardest to provide some human dimensions to people who forgot what it was like to be human.    They all are sucked up into the blur of violence that is Mad Max: Fury Road.     I also find it interesting that people who are reduced to eating geckos for sustenance and fighting for drops of water look rather healthy considering the dearth of such items.   

Mad Max: Fury Road is not about realism, but about people who have no alternative but to somehow survive.    Max is a former cop who is haunted by the visions of family and friends he was unable to save.    We see the visions, but it doesn't resonate with us.    We see the carnage that transpires during a film that is a two-hour chase through uninhabitable land.    Even those that survive still have to eke out an existence in this hell on earth, so we almost feel relief for those who are killed and don't have to anymore.    The stakes simply aren't high enough to engage our interest, which means the skill that went into this production is for naught. 

P.S.  Gasoline is supposed to be such a rare commodity in this world that people kill each other over it.   Yet, all of the vehicles driven seem to be able to travel hundreds of miles in the middle of nowhere without having to refill or even run low.