Mad Max - Fury Road

[blackmocco]

Have to be honest, the rough cut I saw last year left me with the impression it was indeed too light on character but I had no such qualms seeing it again opening night. It was like watching a different movie. Seen it four times now and it's all there if you care to dig. David Mamet - and granted, he's talking about acting here but it equally applies to his writing - says that explaining backstory and exposition in movies are nothing more than bullshit to keep studio execs happy. ACTION defines character, not two talking heads moaning to each other about that summer when something happened to make them scared of what they're facing in the movie you're currently watching. If you watch Glengarry Glen Ross, Ronin with De Niro, hell, even The Edge with Hopkins and Baldwin (sorry. One of my favorite movies to watch over and over. I make no excuses.), you'll see Mamet putting this into action. Can't really think of a better example of that right now than Fury Road. Everything you need to know about this world and these characters is shown to you rather than explained to you. Exhilarating.

[Buttonman]

Big Mamet fan here too - watched 'House of Games', 'The Spanish Prisoner' and 'Spartan' all in close proximity and enjoyed them all. Also big fan of his TV show 'The Unit'. His stuff usually shows his theatre pedigree with the dialogue not always convincing but it it always zips along and is clever and inventive.

[von Boom]

Not everyone agrees that Fury Road is a hit. The studios are especially concerned about the smaller than expected takings on the opening weekend and to that end they've altered their vision of the sequel.

Village Roadshow Pictures is pleased to announce that after an amicable parting of the ways George Miller is moving on to new projects. Village Roadshow is committed to the Mad Max franchise, however, and have brought new talent to take over the franchise.

We are happy to have Peter Kay to write and direct the sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road.

When contacted Peter Kay had this to say:

I'm very 'appy to be a part of the Maddy Maxie series of films. I'm right chuffed to be able to write a sequel the 'ole family can enjoy. Max Man: Furry Road was a great start, but now we can move on in a new and exciting direction.

The working title will be Angry Man Max: Car Sharemageddon...

Then I woke in a pool of sweat...

[radiator]

I'll be honest... I don't accept suggestions of the plot being a bit thin as any kind of criticism. Too many films are obsessed with structured, multi-act plots, but plot is merely the means by which theme and character are developed and explored.

I could not agree more.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, for me the emphasis on increasingly complex plots is the scourge of the modern blockbuster. It's like when Dredd came out and people said it had 'no plot' or was 'like a videogame'. It's like we've become so inured to these big, dense, plot-heavy blockbusters that we won't accept anything else - too many people just want to see films that are overloaded with 'stuff' - more twists, more explosions, more characters, ever-longer running times - to the point where they don't really think about the thing as a whole, and things like pacing and structure go out the window. I'm not saying every action film needs to be like Fury Road, or that blockbuster movies can't be more complex or character-focused, but I do hope modern action filmmakers learn a few lessons from it (though I suspect, unfortunately, that they will most likely completely miss the point and see it as an indication that they can jettison story and character development entirely...).

I actually think Fury Road is remarkable for just how much character development it packs in, despite having no obvious 'character-building' scenes. [spoiler]Nux gives you everything you need to understand the War Boys, to the point where you begin to feel sympathy for them. Though we don't get any flashbacks or backstory about exactly what Furiosa has done that she is seeking redemption for - we know that if she must have done some awful things to reach her position as Joe's prize enforcer, and thank's to Charlize Theron's subtle performance, we can see it written all over her face.[/spoiler]

Do people really think it would have been a better film if we'd had to sit through 30 minutes of slow dialogue scenes at the beginning, where we 'establish' all of the characters and see Furiosa planning the escape and putting her plan into action? No - it's the sign of a confident and well thought out film to throw you in at the deep end and trust you to be able to connect the dots yourself.

I can understand why some people might have a problem with Fury Road for being essentially one long chase sequence, but I never felt fatigued in the slightest. In fact I thought it was a kind of masterpiece in terms of pacing and editing. It felt like it was neatly divided into three distinct acts, and kept changing things up which kept it feeling fresh. The downtime between each act came at exactly the right moment in the action, and neither the action sequences nor the respite dragged (for me at least).

I've also seen criticism that the final fight with the main villains is underwhelming or anticlimactic, whereas I thought it was perfect - [spoiler]how refreshing to not have to go through that usual contrived action-movie bullshit of a villain being 'killed' only to come back again for yet another overblown fight?[/spoiler] I had a 'was that it?' reaction, but in a totally positive way.

The highest praise I can give it is that it's a film that actually gets better the more you think about it, when most of these kinds of films (coughUltron) completely fall apart the second you start to analyse them in any detail.

[Molch-R]

I've also seen criticism that the final fight with the main villains is underwhelming or anticlimactic, whereas I thought it was perfect - [spoiler]how refreshing to not have to go through that usual contrived action-movie bullshit of a villain being 'killed' only to come back again for yet another overblown fight?[/spoiler] I had a 'was that it?' reaction, but in a totally positive way.

[spoiler]Gah, it was IN NO WAY underwhelming - the film had spent some time slowly picking that old world apart and Immortan Joe's death was like lopping the head off the giant, the rest of that old society vainly struggled on but it was over from that point and its suddeness and crudeness (wonderful bit of metaphor - both tearing off his mouth and removing the breath that kept him alive at the same time) was exactly the right tone to strike. It very much stressed that it wasn't Joe who was the Big Bad Guy, it was the whole system he sat at the head of.[/spoiler]

[radiator]

I've also seen criticism that the final fight with the main villains is underwhelming or anticlimactic, whereas I thought it was perfect - [spoiler]how refreshing to not have to go through that usual contrived action-movie bullshit of a villain being 'killed' only to come back again for yet another overblown fight?[/spoiler] I had a 'was that it?' reaction, but in a totally positive way.

[spoiler]Gah, it was IN NO WAY underwhelming - the film had spent some time slowly picking that old world apart and Immortan Joe's death was like lopping the head off the giant, the rest of that old society vainly struggled on but it was over from that point and its suddeness and crudeness (wonderful bit of metaphor - both tearing off his mouth and removing the breath that kept him alive at the same time) was exactly the right tone to strike. It very much stressed that it wasn't Joe who was the Big Bad Guy, it was the whole system he sat at the head of.[/spoiler]

Yep, totally. I got the impression that Joe was [spoiler]kind of all mouth and no trousers - the sculpted muscles on his armour, getting his lackeys to do his fighting for him etc.

The moment of his death was 'jaw dropping' as my friend quipped.[/spoiler]

I remember Dredd getting similar complaints - ie that there was no big, drawn-out fight with Ma Ma at the end, when I thought it was wonderful that instead they flipped the whole thing and turned her demise into something strangely beautiful and reflective.

[Jim_Campbell]

Do people really think it would have been a better film if we'd had to sit through 30 minutes of slow dialogue scenes at the beginning, where we 'establish' all of the characters and see Furiosa planning the escape and putting her plan into action?

I came to this film very cold, and I loved that: the slow dawning over the course of the first few minutes... "Oh, she's already done something...!"

Cheers

Jim

[radiator]

I loved the Nux character. I really thought he'd be [spoiler]used for a bit of comic relief and/or to tag along and throw a spanner in the works before being quickly killed off, and he ended up being completely vital to the story in more ways than one.[/spoiler]

[Jim_Campbell]

I really thought he'd be

[spoiler]I honestly thought he was dead, and Max was going to spend a chunk of the movie dragging his corpse around. As you say: excellent character development, particularly when you realise that he's as much a victim as the others...[/spoiler]

Cheers

Jim

[blackmocco]

I loved the Nux character. I really thought he'd be [spoiler]used for a bit of comic relief and/or to tag along and throw a spanner in the works before being quickly killed off, and he ended up being completely vital to the story in more ways than one.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Better yet, by the end Nux has come full circle. From a mindless follower to a warrior with a cause. I had a lump in my throat as he realized he was going to get his trip to Valhalla after all, but on his own terms and for a worthy reason.[/spoiler]

[radiator]

on a rewatch I appreciated that there's actually a great deal of discipline to the pacing of the whole thing, it takes its foot off the gas just enough at just the right places.

The best review I've read so far (can't remember where, sadly) nailed it for me - it's a film that is somehow simultaneously ridiculously over the top and incredibly restrained.

[Dark Jimbo]

I loved the Nux character. I really thought he'd be [spoiler]used for a bit of comic relief and/or to tag along and throw a spanner in the works before being quickly killed off, and he ended up being completely vital to the story in more ways than one.[/spoiler]

Aye, Nux was the surprise standout - far and away he best character for me. He had the most fulfilling character arc of the lot.

[JOE SOAP]

I was thinking more about [spoiler]the ladies fleeing across a vast desert with a limited water supply - but taking time out to hose themselves down rather than washing in a bucket![/spoiler]

It was only a niggle - it's always amused me in all the MM films that a world where petrol is so scarce seems to be populated by people who do nothing hut drive round and round the desert!

Or it's making the greater point that humans are wasteful bastards who will squander dwindling resources no matter the circumstances or consequences - just as we're doing at the moment.

[Dark Jimbo]

...It very much stressed that it wasn't Joe who was the Big Bad Guy, it was the whole system he sat at the head of.

I know that as viewers our sympathies are supposed to be firmly with Max and Fury... but in the context of that world is Joe not one of the best things that could have happened to it?

He's marshalled together all these hundreds of people who'd long have since have died had they tried going it alone, and centralised the survivors in a place where water and food can be provided for every last one. Every one of these citizens has been given a role to play - right down to the mutated, the maimed, the irradiated. And not only does everyone have a purpose (and, therefore, a reason for living), but in the Valhalla mythology Joe's given everyone back belief - those with the shortest life expectancy (the War Boys) are given the most self-worth of all! And while he's been nothing but inclusive of society's genetic dregs, he's also working on a breeding programme to produce pure bloodlines again. He's single-handedly on the way to making civilisation a viable option once more. Without him what would there be, but a few radioactive stragglers picking a living in the dust, waiting for death?

The Humongous from MM2, by contrast, was an out-and-out baddie - just out for what he could get for him and his gang and anyone weaker than them was considered prey. Immortan Joe is a hero!*

*Shame about the 'blood banks', but nobody's perfect.

[blackmocco]

But IJ [spoiler]hasn't created his breeding program for the benefit of everyone. He needs a genetically-pure male heir. That's his only reasoning. To continue his rule. His other sons clearly aren't up to the task.[/spoiler]

It's also pretty clear he has no intention of sharing the commodities he sits on with everyone. Sharing a tiny amount of his water supply is quite literally a symbol of the "trickle-down effect" the Republicans and conservatives love to spout off about over here in the US. "If I own everything, then ehhh, eventually some of it might get down to you" thinking.