Everyone line up right here to see how an action movie should and can be made. This sequel, nearly 30 years in the making, Mad Max Fury Road thunders past all others giving audiences a ride of a lifetime.

If it isn’t obvious by now, I loved Fury Road. It’s amazing that this movie was even made let alone how fantastic it turned out. The last movie in the franchise (and action flick director George Miller directed) came out in 1985 and sits pretty far back in the minds of movie goers these days. Ideas for this movie came together in the mid 90’s and it wasn’t until recently that he got a budget (allegedly $150 million which is also shocking) and the green light to make it. Let’s get into the details.

You don’t need to see any of the other movies to enjoy Fury Road. Earth is a desolate place where only the strong survive. Food, water, gas/oil, human breast milk and blood (for transfusions) are the highest of commodities. The movie starts with Max alone, surveying the desert land that stretches out before him. He is discovered by a roving gang called the War Boys, captured and brought to their leader Immortan Joe. It is in his kingdom where Max is turned into a slave, to be used as they see fit. When Max inadvertently gets pulled into Joe’s trusted warlord Imperator Furiosa’s escape plan, the two must work together to fend off an unrelenting zealot army that’s determined to reclaim what belongs to Immortan Joe.

That’s right, Max is being chased for almost the entire runtime of the movie. Each action scene, except for two, take place on cars, bikes, trucks and big rigs that are careening through the desert. I can’t describe the visual insanity of these set pieces, so I’m going to use a frame from the movie.

Everything that could be done practically, was done for real, on set. CG was used to enhance, not drive, so Fury Road has this amazing complex kinetic carnage that is stunning to watch unravel in front of you. Stuff like Avengers just can’t compare because those are just pixels running into other pixels. Here it’s dudes with flame throwers and explosive tipped javelins and chain saws climbing around custom rigs jousting and dueling in a moving 90 mph war.

The spectacle of the movie simply sets a new bar, it’s a simple as that. The distinct make up and costumes for each clan (three are shown) are really cool (everything about this movie is cool). The designs for the vehicles are done way beyond cosmetic flair, they have a physical purpose. They don’t just have metal sticking out of them for no reason (looking at you Michael Bay). Nux’s car for example, has the exhaust pipes go along the side blocking the doors. This shields the sides and helps block off the back for a trunk mounted fighting post. Passengers have to enter through the roof (which has reinforced retractable parts for sand and incoming armament protection) and the front rack is used as a traveling space for a Blood Bag (which results in some of the most amazing shots of Max strapped into this contraption as they careen through the desert).  All of the right creative decisions were made on this production. It could have been a complete mess but the production design, killer soundtrack, editing and direction are simply top tier film making.

I also appreciated Fury Road’s restraint on gore. They could have gone full gore hound and splattered the camera lense with blood at every opportunity, but they didn’t. You’d expect to see explicit visuals of dozens of people getting crushed and blown apart in a film like this, but it’s not shown and exaggerated for shock value. Gunshot and stab wounds don’t result in blood geysers. For all the spectacle and chaos, gore is never the focal point (there is one big gag that I think works extra well thanks to the restraint leading up to it).

With the action out of the way, the killer cast of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne and Nicholas Hoult needs to be addressed. While the plot is very simple, the characters and their motivations are really well thought out. Tom Hardy as Max is the strong, but silent type, and even though his name is in the title, he’s not the main character. It’s Charlize Theron’s Furiosa who really powers the film. She’s on a mission to rescue her female friends from Immortan Joe’s inner sanctum. He runs their section of the world, he is their society.  Nicholas Hoult as Nux is a treat to watch as he goes from fanatical War Boy to a man making his own decisions to join a truly meaningful mission and existence. Together these three literally rage against the machine. Hugh Keaeys-Byrne as Joe makes for one of the most memorable on screen baddies ever conceived. He is a phenomenal villain, everything about him is striking and imposing.

There are only strong characters in Fury Road, whether they be antagonists or protagonists. The women have seen and gone through so much that charging into the desert against all odds in the hope of finding Furiosa’s utopia is seen as the only option. Max is a lone wolf, a man who’d rather keep to himself and gets swept into this tribal battle that challenges himself to fight for more than himself.

Fury Road had everything I wanted and more. Great characters that I cared about, perfect pacing, inspiring direction and truly jaw dropping spectacle. It has to be seen in theatres to get the full effect. I honestly think that this will go down as one of the best action movies ever made. We don’t get many of these.

It’s hard to believe anyone hasn’t heard of this movie or have some idea of what it’s about. Easiest way to boil down this overstuffed epic is that Tony Stark (with an assist by Bruce Banner) crams his hubris down everyone’s throat (again) creating a world threatening robot take over (again).

There’s a lot going on in Avengers 2 and that is it’s greatest weakness. It’s packed with characters and everyone has to get their own screen time to justify their existence. This means that the pace of the movie is shockingly fast. You just whip from scene to scene with very few breathers. Stuff just happens to happen. Tony and Bruce work for awhile on creating the Ultron Artificial Intelligence program and give up on it for the night to go to a party. Right after that (literally, a few seconds), despite making very little headway, the thing kicks off on it’s own and builds itself. Then there’s the stuff that makes little to no sense (like the physics of a moving train) and Thor’s heavily edited subplot where he disappears on a side mission for a bit and then flies back into frame just in time for an integral moment that couldn’t be done without his powers.

Two new characters, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, are brought in resulting what I thought were apathetic results. I didn’t care for either despite some valiant attempts (namely Hawkeye, who everyone rolls their eyes at when the heavy hitters like Hulk and Captain America are standing by) to make them fun and useful.

I think my biggest problem is that it much of the movie felt like a retread. Despite the scale being much bigger, it checks all the boxes. Teamwork fights, Tony Stark causing the central conflict, a big action piece solely for Hulk to be Hulk. A finale consisting of another disposable swarm getting shot and mangled. Having Hulk and Thor is actually rather redundant, because they both fill the heavy hitter role. You need something massive moved or punched? Either one can do it. Plus, just about everything is computer generated so once the action gets going, it’s just pixels running into pixels. There’s little weight to the movie.

With that out of the way, there is some great stuff too. It’s got a few great jokes and character flare ups that are well executed and perfectly placed (CA trying to pick up Thor’s hammer, Tony picking on just about everyone). Ultron and Vision look really good and Watching Hulk go bezerk is a blast (despite me ragging on it a bit in the paragraph above, it was my favorite action scene). The times when things slow down and everyone gets to interact are often great (Nat and Bruce is a neat and thoughtful dynamic). Hell, Hawkeye gets to actually do things! Avengers gets a lot of the summer blockbuster movie parts right.

Too much of a good thing applies most to Age of Ultron. With so much to juggle it’s easy to get distracted and lost. A streamlining of things is in order I think. Despite pulling in over a billion dollars at the box office, I hope the powers (the ones that wear dress attire) at Marvel recognize that they have to tend to their garden before it gets unmanageable and fans shy away.

I love it when I’m surprised by a movie. I mostly knew about this movie because it was James Gandolfini’s last movie. I put it in my “watch when I get around to it” pile and forgot about it as I made my way through my Netflix queue.  The Drop has many of my favorite elements with a small cast of well defined characters played by strong actors, a tight, localized crime story topped off by a great ending.

Bob Saginowsi is a quiet guy working in his cousin Marv’s bar. There’s a long history of organized crime in the neighborhood and the bar is occasionally used as a money drop location for sports betting run by the Chechens. One night, the bar is robbed by gun point for $5,000. The mob want their money back and the police are called because one of the employees gets his head cracked open by the fleeing criminals. Bob ends up giving the cops some identifying information he should have kept to himself which draws a lot of unwanted attention from both the police and the Chechens. From there, the history of Bob, his cousin and the neighborhood gets dredged up with shocking revelations.

First, Tom Hardy as Bob is amazing. He changes his mannerisms and speaking patterns to fit this character perfectly. He’s never Tom Hardy on screen, only Bob Saginowsi, I loved this guy from start to finish. His morals, how he interacts with people, the way he handles things that come at him. You can tell he’s seen a lot in his life, but he hides it so well that you can’t figure out exactly what’s going on with him. Noomi Rapace plays the damaged Nadia to perfection (I kept seeing Marisa Tomei in her performance) and is the perfect anchor for Bob. Their relationship is really well developed. James Gandolfini as cousin Marv holds it down as the shady relative with bitter dreams of grandeur. I was really blown away by Mattias Schoenaerts as Eric Deeds, who is the main antagonist to Bob. I’ve never seen Mattias before, but he’s perfectly cast to play against Tom Hardy (and Bob). He’s physically intimidating and plays the unstable type really well. Eric is bad news, the neighborhood boogeyman as he sulks about with his hood up and his reputation dragging around behind him.

While two men fighting over a woman (and an adorable puppy) is nothing new, I became completely enamored with how it’s handled in The Drop. The build up comes through the entire movie and doesn’t reach a climax until the end. Eric is introduced subtly and slowly and becomes a bigger and bigger threat with each passing scene. Bob and Eric’s conflict never breaks into a simple fist fight or screaming match at the drop of a hat. Eric is a menacing presence and the question of when he’s going to blow up and how Bob is going to (or even if he can) handle it is asked and amped up with each escalating confrontation.

Bob reminds me a lot of Driver from the movie Drive (which I also loved). They lead their respective movie as stoic hero. A rather poetic character with old school machismo and motivations to do good. They both don’t want any trouble, but if forced, they protect themselves and others as necessary. Such a great movie, highly recommended.

Birdman: Or (The Needlessly Long Title) is a trip of a movie.  It received a lot of buzz just before release but didn’t draw a very big audience. More stunning in it’s presentation than anything else (not to belittle the great actors), Birdman can take a lot of aspiring (and established) filmmakers to school.

In the late 80’s, early 90’s actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) played the title role in three “Birdman” comic book adaptation movies. They were massive movies and despite the fame and fortune it brought him, he declined to make a fourth movie. His career subsequently hits the dirt after making that decision. Having lived in the shadow of Birdman for so long, Riggan tries to reinvent his career and public image by writing, producing, directing and starring in the Broadway show, Raymond Carver’s “What  We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”

The pressure to make a successful show squeezes Riggan as he fights back mounting problems during the three preview shows leading up to opening night. He needs to find a replacement for a bad actor, who then threatens a lawsuit after getting hurt on stage. Then, the replacement actor is a complete nightmare to work with and threatens to steal the spotlight from Riggan. His flailing family relationships continue to erode right in front of him and a Broadway reviewer is sharpening her blades to help flush his career down the toilet. Riggan’s stress also comes to frightening life when he starts having discussions with the Birdman character in his head about all of his insecurities.

The movie is presented as a single long take which is rarely seen. Everyone director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu told of his plans before filming must have told him he was nuts for even considering it. It’s incredibly taxing to do for everyone on set, eliminates just about every freedom that editing can provide and if not shot right, simply doesn’t work. I have to say Inarritu simply knocks it out of the park. Edits are tough to see and the fly on the wall presentation lends a certain amount emergency and legitimacy to the story. Transitions are beautiful to watch and the blocking feels natural. The movie flows from each event and day, it’s a really engaging way to go through Riggan’s troubles.

I really like the setting. Behind the scenes of a Broadway play isn’t done much so the environment was interesting to see with the playhouse’s dressing rooms, narrow hallways and interesting lighting. The movie briefly goes outside and even that looked cool (my favorite being the tiny liquor store, props to the production designer and cinematographer on that one).

The script is razor sharp too. Considering how the movie was shot (in order too, which is also almost never done), it has to be. Since there is no room for heavy editing, it’s important that every single character, scene and bit of dialog be important and effective. Inspiring writing.

The all star cast consisting of Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianaskis and Naomi Watts must be equally praised for pulling off what almost feels like a beautiful documentary. Everyone is believable and perfectly cast and it’s especially great to see Keaton strut his stuff. He’s one of the best actors and that we don’t get to see much. I hope we see more of him from here on out. Bonus points for Keaton and Norton’s characters for having shades of their real careers woven in.

As much as I like Birdman, I recognize it’s not for everyone. It’s a serious and heavy story, but I think there is a lot to like about it. It won a few Oscars for good reason.