Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Good:
Are you looking for an action movie? Look no further! This film is serious, high octane (pun intended), speed-freak-style, crazy action from start to finish. I think it lets you take a few tense breaths here and there, but don't worry, you won't notice.
The scenery was perfect. Not only did this film capture the imagined dystopian future through the lens of the 1980s, it made it look cool... ok, not cool, but just weird enough to be disturbing, but not weird enough to be unbelievable.
I had heard that there were some strong female characters in the film, and there definitely were. I enjoyed the fact that even the damsels in distress were badass and being saved by another badass woman.
The music fit the film like driving glove.
The special effects, and practical effects, were great.
I like that Max was silent for most of the film.
The Warboy (Nicholas Hoult) with the women was an enjoyable character, I didn't like him at first, but he really grew on me. That is the mark of good acting, in my opinion.
On acting, Theron and Hardy were both quite good.
There was a strange, yet somehow believable, mythology constructed in it.

The Bad:
I would have liked just a little more background, but that is just the curious side of me.
I did not find Theron's prosthetic arm realistic, I don't know why.
Some of the things that the people were wearing I was convinced would cause them to have instant heat stroke.
Some of the decisions made were suspect, but they caused the plot to advance. So, I suppose I can forgive them.

Overall: I would give it at least 8 gallons of gasoline and one solid explosion! I would watch it again!

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

The Good:
The cast was decent, all playing their roles well and believably, for the most part.
The actual concept behind the movie was not terrible.
The first third or so of the film develops pretty solidly. There is a precursor story to the "main" story with a dog that is much more interesting than the main plot.
Olivia Wild is easy on the eyes.

The Bad:
The last two thirds of the movie moved too quickly. I understand that there is a finite amount of time in an 83 minute movie, but had the film been say 2 hours, it could have been infinitely better. The major portion of the film seems to happen in like 3 hours... had it taken place over a few days, it might have been more engaging.
The music... blah.
Too much use of a "jump scare" throughout.
Boring and kind of dumb deaths.
The end. Then the later end.

Overall: It was as if Flatliners decided that it should try to be Carrie, then it failed miserably. I'll give it 5 pints of blood out of 10.