The appearance of Immortan Joe is art all by itself – with Keays-Byrne looking absolutely monstrous wearing a fang-filled breathing apparatus and white gladiator armor to match his deathly pale skin – but really, his entire army of skeleton-painted cult followers will send a shiver down your spine (including Nicholas Hoult as Nux, a devout follower of Joe’s who winds up being manacled to the titular hero).

Taking the post-apocalyptic look of The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome up 10-15 notches, Mad Max: Fury Road’s villains are decked out in all kinds of crazy-yet-weirdly-practical costumes and makeup, helping us perfectly understand why Max, Furiosa and the women can’t get away fast enough. You know what also tends to add a good dose of urgency into a chase film? When those doing the chasing are absolutely terrifying. But the story sucks you into its world in a way that gives the plot great urgency, flow and pressure at all times in the narrative. This isn’t to say that Fury Road doesn’t have its more deliberate moments where we get to see characters, dynamics and deeper themes of hope, fear and retribution explored. The story never goes too long without giving us insight as to what’s happening on the antagonist’s side of things, and they’re constantly presented as a looming force right on our heroes’ heels – pushing them forward.

This works not just because Miller packs the feature with a wide array of jaw-dropping, explosive-filled action sequences, but because of the gripping, dense atmosphere that the movie creates.

Mad Max: Fury Road is a chase film by the most literal of definitions, launching into the action just mere moments after the studio logo screens, and though it may sound exhausting, the film actually manages to maintain an incredible level of energy straight through to the end credits. With three war parties on their tails, what follows is an epic, wild pursuit across the wasteland that’s as dramatic and exhilarating as it is spectacular and beautiful. An escaped prisoner of Joe’s, and in need of an exit strategy himself, Max teams with the women on their journey to a “Promise Land” known as The Green Place. For years, she has served under a monstrous tyrannical cult leader called Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), but when she finds opportunity to escape, she takes it – and brings along with her Joe’s imprisoned prized “breeders” (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, Megan Gale, Abbey Lee).

Bringing us back to the death-covered world of the desert, where people bleed for water and gasoline, the new legend takes folk hero Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) and this time puts him on a collision course with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a one-armed rebel on the run with an immensely valuable package.

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