Mad Max : Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)

What's it about? In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) ends up on board a oil tanker driven by Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) as they are pursued by a fleet of souped-up jalopies piloted by crazed members of a death cult. 'Sit back and relax', the cinema announcement said. Some chance.

Is it any good? VRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!! CrassshhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Monster Truck. Oil Tanker. DRUM SOLO!!!! Jesus wept - MY EARS!! BANGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!! POWWWW!! SCREEEEEECHHH!!!!!!!! Flame-thrower. Guitar solo. NO - WAIT! MAKE THAT A FLAME-THROWING GUITAR SOLO!!! HOLY SHIT! DID YOU SEE THAT? Digger-rig! Tank thing! Kick-Start scramblers! KABOOOOMMMM!!!!!! And breathe. No, to hell with breathing - LET'S GO AGAIN!!! MY EYES!! WHAAAMMM!!! WHOPPP!!! SSSHHHH-BLAMMMO!!! And rest. Bloody hell, that was mental.

I don't trust you. What do others think? Unanimous acclaim for the brilliantly orchestrated action mayhem on display, all put together by the 70-year-old Miller, who had polished his action skills on the original Mad Max trilogy, as well as, er, Babe 2 and the Happy Feet films. Whilst purists might still prefer the CGI-free stunts of Mad Max 2:The Road Warrior as a slice of carmaggeddon, this remake not only delivers immensely satisfying chase action, but has taken many by surprise with its strong feminist undertones - check out the very funny Feminist Mad Max tumblr blog for evidence. See, it becomes clear early on that Max is actually a fairly grumpy, monosyllabic, occasionally useful side-kick to the real star Furiosa, stirringly played by Theron. Along with her feisty female companions, she is striking back (and I mean literally striking back) against an oppressive patriarchal society, a subtext which makes it a bit more that just a mindless slice of violent entertainment. And come to think of it.....a journey across a desolate dust bowl in hope of finding paradise, only to meet with much hardship before ending up celebrating the courage of women? This is actually The Grapes of Wrath remake, isn't it? It even has breast-feeding. Should have been called The Joad Warrior.

What does the Fonz think? Mad Mad: Hell hath no Fury Road.