By Troy Ribeiro
London, May 16 (IANS): Film: "Mad Max Road Fury"; Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Richard Carter, Angus Sampson, Jennifer Hagan, Megan Gale, Melissa Jaffer, Melita Jurisic, Gillian Jones, Joy Smithers; Director: George Miller; Rating: ***

Crammed with numerous characters and projected on an epic scale "Mad Max: Fury Road" is an action packed, escapist road film. It is the fourth film by George Miller in the "Mad Max" series that comes exactly thirty years after the last one, "Beyond Thunderdome".

"Fury Road" takes off from where its last franchise left. Set in the distant future in an imaginatively, dystopian civilization Max (Tom Hardy), a survivor from the apocalypse in "Beyond Thunderdome", is captured by the Kamakrazee War Boys, the army of the tyrannical cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). He is designated as a universal blood donor and is used as a blood bag for the sick War Boy, Nux (Nicholas Hoult).

Meanwhile, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) drives her heavily armoured War Rig to collect gasoline. Mid-way, all of a sudden, she takes a detour, alerting Joe who realizes that his five wives who were specially selected for breeding have escaped his clutches.

Joe leads his entire War Boy army in pursuit of Furiosa, calling on the aid of nearby Gas Town and Bullet Farm. Nux wanting to die a historic death, joins the army with Max strapped to the hood of his car, to continue supplying blood. A battle ensues between Joe's forces and Furiosa's team. During the combat, Furiosa drives into an approaching sand storm to evade her pursuers.

Nux wanting to sacrifice himself follows her. In the sandstorm his car crashes and gets damaged, Max escapes. At a distance Max sees Furiosa repairing her Rig and she is accompanied by Joe's wives. He steals the Rig, but is unable to operate it. So he is forced to join hands with Furiosa and Joe's wives, who are on the run in the "hope of reaching the Green Landa and "redemption."

They are chased not only by Joe but by the Gas Boys and Bullet Farmers across a sandy desert, a barren ravine and swamps. Their journey, that stretches nearly three fourths of the film is laden with ballistic adventures.

Keeping with the times and the pace of the film, Director Millers has replaced Mel Gibson for the younger, dynamic Tom Hardy, who plays Max with sincerity. Mel had featured in the previous three editions.

Charlize Theron as Furiosa emits raw emotions. She is agile and brilliant, as the one hand amputee on the run. Similarly, Nicholas Hoult as Nux is appealing.

The action sequences are well choreographed. With a blend of wide angle shots and close ups, cinematographer John Seale's camera captures the film in minute detail. And his anamorphic frames seamlessly merge with computer generated images. The 3D effects combined with the adrenaline boosting sound effects amp the viewing experience.

Compared to its previous editions, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is the director's most ambitious project which is mounted on a grand production scale which consists of a massive crowd, humungous sets and exhilarating tempo. Certain scenes bear the look and feel of a Biblical film, but overall it can be best described as "a Western on Wheels."