Mad Max: Fury Road thrills critics

Tom Hardy takes on Mel Gibson's former role in the new film

The new Mad Max film, Fury Road, has received rave reviews from critics ahead of its release later this week.

Most reviewers have awarded the action-packed epic four or five stars, with The Daily Telegraph describing it as a "Krakatoan eruption of craziness".

The film sees British actor Tom Hardy take on Mel Gibson's role as "Road Warrior" Max Rockatansky.

Charlize Theron also appears in the futuristic drama, which is set for release in the UK and US on Friday.

Also awarding it five stars, Time Out's David Ehrlich said watching director George Miller's film was like "a tornado tearing through a tea party".

He added: "Fury Road steers this macho franchise in a brilliant new direction, forging a mythical portrait about the need for female rule in a world where men need to be saved from themselves."

'Maxed-out madness'

Jamie Graham from Total Film said the blockbuster had "some of the greatest action ever put on screen".

He wrote: "In the battle of the 2015 behemoths, the maxed-out madness of Mad Max: Fury Road sets an extraordinarily high bar - then pole-vaults clean over it and smashes the entire rig to smithereens."

Writing for Hollywood bible Variety, Justin Chang said the "word-of-mouth excitement over the film's beautifully brutal action sequences should lend it tremendous commercial velocity".

And The Guardian's critic Peter Bradshaw awarded four stars and said it was "like Grand Theft Auto revamped by Hieronymus Bosch".

Bradshaw admitted on Twitter: "Slightly embarrassed with myself at how very much I enjoyed the barking Mad Max: Fury Road."