By MISSY CHAPMAN
Cataloging Supervisor, Warsaw Community Public Library

WARSAW — “Mad Max: Fury Road” is a great surprise for a reboot film. Normally these films are not as captivating or as memorable as their originals.

It has been 30 years since we’ve seen Max Rockatansky and he’s never looked better. I was indeed skeptical about whether Tom Hardy would be able to take the reins from the legendary Mel Gibson. He manages magnificently. “Mad Max: Fury Road” is jaw-droppingly beautiful when it isn’t horrifying ugly, this is a literal vision of hell-on-wheels and features some of the most astounding action ever committed to film.

Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is the same nomadic figure as in previous installments, the lone desert wanderer who appears to have given up hope of civilization returning to the lawless wasteland he inhabits. But Max isn’t the driving force or even the protagonist in Fury Road. That role belongs to Furiosa (Charlize Theron) a trusted imperator who escapes with the warlord Immortan Joe’s (Hugh Keays-Byrne) prisoner wives and is intent on finding freedom at a distant oasis. I won’t give away any more details except to say that Max and Furiosa form a reluctant alliance, and she, not Max is the one whose emotional journey we follow.

I was amazed to find out that most of the action you see in this film was not CGI. Many, if not all of the race scenes are all done with professional drivers and stunt people, making the movie just that much more incredible. Not one frame of this movie is wasted. It feels as if every moment is loaded with conflict: visually stunning, aurally pleasing, impactful conflict.

If you’d like to see what fast and furious really looks like, come in to the Warsaw Community Public library and check out “Mad Max: Fury Road,” or any one of our new movie titles like “Insurgent,” “Aloha,” or “Home.”

Our hours are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.