This past memorial day weekend, I participated in the age-old activity of going to the movies with my family. We chose a particularly family-friendly film, “Mad Max: Fury Road.” This is read tongue-in-cheek of course, as the movie involves a bloodthirsty chase across a vast desert expanse, filled with British accents and explosions.

The title character, Max, is a drifter with a typically mysterious backstory (I haven’t seen the previous “Mad Max” films) who is captured by an outlaw group to have his blood drained and put into future fighters. Without giving too much away, Max ends up getting involved with a runaway from the outlaws, and fighting for his life on the fury road.

The movie supposedly takes place in post-apocalyptic, or “post-water” Australia. Water is a huge commodity, and the outlaws rule over the common people from atop several large buttes.

This movie goes over the top on many levels: at one point there is a man chained to the top of a moving vehicle playing metal guitar in front of a giant speaker stack, giving chase to Max and his friends.

The over-the-top aesthetic is what really makes this movie worth a look; however, I never tired of the near constant action and explosions taking place.

If you really think about it, the movie is one long action sequence.

Charlize Theron steals the show from Max though, with her character Imperator Furiosa, a runaway from the outlaw faction trying to rescue her friends to a better life.

Though there is some tension between Max (played by Tom Hardy) and Furiosa, the two quickly become a deadly duo, stopping at nothing to survive.

The number of side characters with their own unique little storylines makes this movie highly rewatchable, in my opinion.

I’ll definitely be going to see it again at some point in the near future. I can only imagine how fun it would be to experience this movie in 3D. “Mad Max” definitely delivers in a gloriously gory way.

Rating: A