Finally got to go to the cinema recently to watch the new Mad Max film, and just got around to completing my review on it all. I honestly thought I wouldn't get to see it at the cinema as it didn't seem to be the sort of film I could drag my wife along to. But thanks to the wonder of the @wittertainment podcast, she was willing (if not eager) to see what all the fuss was about, especially as she had not seen any of the other Mad Max films before. I on the other hand remember them from my younger days, and recall the excitement and intrigue that came from this post-apocalyptic world. Granted, we had lost Mel, but I felt Tom Hardy was an excellent choice to fill the role.

What was this film about you may ask? Well, the world has been turned into a wasteland run by those that controlled the oil (and without all their faculties in place). Max has lead a heartbreaking past, and one that has left him in emotional turmoil that he may never fully recover from. The world is full of car gangs, insanity, aggression, and heroes of grey.

Upon sitting down to watch the film, I was ready to just forget all the woes and stresses of my current days, and just be washed over my the film. I must say, this was the perfect choice for such a requirement. The action scenes were close to non-stop, I recall a few quiet periods during the film, but these did not last for long. Now, it is hard to explain how this is a good thing, many times you may hear people go to films and whinge about weak dialogue, or lack of depth to a film, this is not something you hear people comment on with regards to this instalment in the Mad Max saga. I feel that the main reason for this lies with the strength and integrity of the actors and writers. Whilst dialogue was limited, emotion was portrayed in actions and facial emotions, giving another way to show how the world has moved on, and talking is no longer the requirement it is today.

Further to this, there are several points for discussion (and often arguments) afterwards such as portrayals of feminism and physical disability portrayed on film, especially in a film that feels superficially simplistic on the surface. They could easily have gone with various stereotypes of film, and sold to the same audience as all the other high-octane action films, but instead they carefully laced some strong thoughts into the story.

Overall, this was an excellent film, both fun to watch and exhilarating. Also, whilst the story and plot points are not complicated, there are some very interesting visuals and more subtle points to the story which are in some ways more interesting because they are pushed to the background (as though the fact that a character is female, or has a disability is inconsequential, and the story does not care). So long as you aren't of the faint hearted, I would certainly recommend this film though if you were considering it, just don't expect to relax at all.