Rotten Tomatoes: 97% The beautiful reality of Mad Max: Fury Road is that it not only sits atop this list of highest rated action movies of the year, but also at the top of a sh*tload of 'best film of the year' lists. Veteran director George Miller showed all these fast-edit, corner-cutting diva youngsters in the field how it's done, by creating an earthy, practical effects-filled thrill ride through the Namibian desert (standing in for Australia's Outback). His action sequences are intense and visceral; most viewers will find a lump in their throat at some point during the film's fairly-breezy two-hour runtime - most likely during the car chase/shootout that happens in the middle of a f*cking sandstorm. The plot has been decried as fairly simple (although one would argue that this is perfectly reasonable for a film about a car chase), but the character work on display in Fury Road was what got people hooked and involved; Charlize Theron's Furiosa has been described as the real hero of the movie, as she arguably gets a few more dimensions than Tom Hardy's PTSD-ridden Max. What's important with Mad Max: Fury Road isn't a question of which character is the most well-drawn; it's the fact that any are well-drawn at all. It's an unfortunately common symptom of modern action films that they be about as deep as a tub of ice cream. Miller showed once and for all with Fury Road that this doesn't have to be the case. Do you agree with the films on the list? Do they warrant the ratings they received or should they have scored higher or lower? As ever, let us know in the comments below.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
