‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Reviews: Critics Call It One Of 2015’s Best Films

Mad Max: Fury Road marks the first time in 30 years that the iconic character has graced the silver screen. With its release date being this Friday, critics are finally able to publish their reviews. So far, many seem to be making room for it on their best of 2015 lists.

George Miller, who directed the three previous Mad Max films, returns to helm Fury Road, which has Tom Hardy taking over in the lead role. Starring alongside Hardy are Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Miller also wrote the screenplay along with Nick Lathouris, who had a role as “Grease Rat” in the first Mad Max, and Brendan McCarthy, who worked as a storyboard artist on 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

At the time of this publication, Mad Max: Fury Road stands at a 97 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 34 of 35 reviews being positive. That rating may change as more reviews come in, but there’s a good chance that it will remain in positive territory on the aggregator site.

Writing for Forbes, Scott Mendelson called Mad Max: Fury Road “an all-time classic action picture,” adding that it will be a tough film to beat for best summer movie of 2015.

“Mad Max: Fury Road is a remarkable and glorious motion picture, not just one of the great action movies of our time but also a great film, period.”

Drew McWeeny of Hitfix also gave it a perfect score, noting that “even having seen it now,” he still has “trouble believing” just how great it is.

“There are so many gags, so many stunts, so many different beats that play out that I felt drunk by the end of the film. This is that high that I chase each and every time I sit down in the theater, the thing that we seem to be telling Hollywood we want when we support these reboots and sequels and [prequels]. This is a return to a world we’ve seen before, but on a scale the filmmaker never dared dream before.”

Jason Gorber of TwitchFilm gave Mad Max: Fury Road an A+ grade, calling it “Miller’s masterpiece.”

“It’s a tour-de-force film, an action romp par excellence. The montage elements are often breathtaking (literally) — I found myself staring, mouth agape, as moment after moment built into a phantasmagoria of crushing metal, billowing sand and flying bodies.”

The one negative review, so far, is from David Edwards, who writes for the Daily Mirror. Edwards gave the film two out of five stars, calling it “noisy, explosive and visually spectacular but depressingly hollow.”

“The effects are terrific but this Mad Max reboot gives far, far too little screentime to the fearsome road warrior.”

How do you feel about the mostly positive, early reviews for Mad Max: Fury Road?

[Image credit: Warner Bros. via Blastr]