This is going to be unpopular, but I need to rant about this...
Mad Max: Fury Road
I love
Mad Max and enjoyed this as a mindless action spectacle, but it's definitely the most overrated movie of the year so far, and doesn't begin to touch the first two films (which were far from mindless and
not gratuitously violent as some have stated elsewhere). The script here is practically non existent. It's like Miller sat there with the suits and they said, Hey George! People love that tanker chase in
The Road Warrior so lets make the
whole movie like that. Forget about the personal touch the original films had, just throw an endless series of stunts and twisted metal at the screen and people will flock to see it. I find it hard to believe there wasn't major studio tampering with such a big budget on the table. Let's throw in a logic defying faux-twist to ensure the protagonists meet head on again for yet another mind numbing chase sequence. Is this really the best script Miller and co could source after a thirty year hiatus from Max? I doubt it.
There's virtually no character development (save for Nux who has the only thing resembling a redemptive arc) and thus I experienced no sense of excitement or tension because I didn't care about any of said characters. Tom Hardy is so vacant and lacking in charisma as Max; he looks like a startled rabbit caught in the proverbial headlights - what a shame they couldn't take a leap of faith and stick with Mel Gibson who was still only mid fifties when they shot this. Theron is great in a Ripley-esque kind of way and the (hardly original) feminist undertones are fitting considering the origins of the genre, but why the hell is she talking with an American accent? Surely an actress of her caliber could have given it some ocker passion. I know it wasn't shot in Oz, but a huge part of
Mad Max for me is the Australian identity and this incarnation seems to toss much of that aside. It just doesn't have that strange, crow cawing atmosphere the first films had and as such merely
looks like the world of Max on steroids.
Thankfully those looks are fantastically realised and repetitive as they may be, the action scenes are impeccably staged with a minimum of CGI tampering (save for that horrible dust storm sequence, and understandably Immortan Joe's impressive looking citadel) The costume and vehicle designs hold an admirable level of steam punk detail that would make Terry Gilliam proud, and for brief stretches I almost forgot about the complete lack of soul the movie has. Despite this it's highly watchable on the level of Costner's
Waterword (odd to think that very similar Max inspired movie got luke warm notices whilst this has received raves) and perhaps more importantly seems to have successfully rebooted (though it isn't one) the
Mad Max franchise. I just hope Miller has the moxy to re-cast Gibbo (or anyone but Hardy) in a more personal and restrained sequel. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I sincerely believe that less is more, George...less is more.
Reply to Topic
