Why Mad Max: Fury Road Deserves All 10 of Its Oscar Nominations

Yes, there are car chases. Yes, there are explosions. Yes, there are death-defying fight scenes. We've all seen that stuff before in countless other action movies, but trust us — Transformers this is not. The way director George Miller and cinematographer John Seale blend the harsh physical violence happening between the characters with the austere beauty of the open desert and the chaotic, sinister metal caravan of vehicles is visually hypnotizing. Without relying on CGI (which was used very sparingly throughout the entirety of the film), Mad Max: Fury Road ends up being an extremely visceral, two-hour-long car chase that looks and feels anything but tired.

Amid the explosions and fiery debris, the core of the movie has a whole lot of heart. Furiosa's (Charlize Theron) determination to save Zoë Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton, and Riley Keough's characters from being Immortan Joe's sex slaves is palpable. The scene when she learns the salvation she so desperately seeks for them is gone, she collapses into the sand, dismayed and defeated, and it's so powerful it's hard not to feel those emotions right alongside her. Nicholas Hoult's heartbreaking performance as the doomed Nux is also electric, and his character arc is masterfully executed. Miller gave us storylines that we couldn't help but get invested in, ones that involved much more than the black and white simplicities of life and death.

Theron's intense, unrelenting performance as Imperator Furiosa absolutely makes the movie and is the main reason it sticks with you long after you've left the theater. With the exception of Edge of Tomorrow, Mad Max: Fury Road champions female empowerment in a way that action films never really have before. The glory shots of the actress's bodies à la Lara Croft: Tomb Raider are few and far between, and their strength isn't neutered like the Avengers series repeatedly does to Black Widow.

The storyline revolves around Furiosa and the group of women she's trying to protect so strongly that she ends up completely overshadowing Tom Hardy's Mad Max. For instance, in one of the scenes where Max is trying to shoot down one of Immortan Joe's cronies, he actually ends up handing the gun to Furiosa since he knows she's infinitely more capable. It was a beautiful, simple, feminist affirmation that yes, women can kick just as much ass in action movies as the guys, if not more.