Good for you JD for saying what you really think about
Fury Road instead of what you're 'supposed to think'. It's not a terrible film, just an average one - a classic case of tons of money being thrown at a mediocre script and the critics masturbating over it all with inflated review scores. I don't agree with your comments regarding the superior original films (namely
Mad Max and
The Road Warrior), or your comparison of Hardy to Clint Eastwood and seventies stars (he looks more like a pumped up Jamie Oliver to me), but the rest, yes.
The problem with
Mad Max: Fury Road for me is it's saddled with an already dehumanised iconic character now reduced to a near mute secondary role. This might have worked with Gibson who knows Max inside out and could have injected some much needed charisma, but not with a newcomer like Tom Hardy. For Hardy to work in the role Miller needed to give him more to do on an emotional level - fleshed out his madness if you like. The pre-opening credits sequence is one of the worst I've ever seen because it's a complete missed opportunity to introduce Hardy effectively. Compare it with
The Road Warrior opening and there's just no contest whatsoever. Hardy has gone on record saying he didn't know what Miller wanted from him and it really shows.
The Furiosa character doesn't work for me either because unlike Ellen Ripley in
Aliens we haven't grown with her through an earlier film, and don't really know her back story until three quarters of the way through
Fury Road. Let's cut through the crap here. Furiosa is nothing more than a modern action/horror cliché little better than Kate Beckinsale in the
Underworld films - but hey it's acclaimed actress CharlizeTheron so everyone's cooing over her. It's
Mad Max forgodsake. This gives us two uninspired leads who lack interest and thus removes the tension from key action sequences. The best example is the initial fight between Max and Furiosa (when Max is shackled to Nux) which is supposed to be very suspenseful because Joe's minions are catching up to them; but instead feels ho-hum-matter-of-fact because the characters are so sketchy and detached. There's just no one to root for in that scene, and it's a nonchalant feeling that seeps through the rest of the film.
I have a conspiracy theory regarding Mel Gibson's Hollywood blacklisting in the wake of
The Passion of the Christ - which upset a lot of Jewish people, many of whom coincidentally run the big studios. I think it goes a lot deeper than some drunken indiscretions he's committed which had to make it into the press to begin with. Gibson has clearly been betrayed by a lot of people over the past nine years. He's never been a saint, but the way the press have consistently demonised him after he was such a Hollywood darling in the nineties stinks of conspiracy. It's just the typical abhorrent media pattern of build someone up, then tear them down. Never mind the fact the guy is an alcoholic who needs help and support - after he himself helped a very troubled Robert Downey Jr. make a comeback. No let's just destroy him so we can all feel better about ourselves. Hollywood is definitely worse off without Mel Gibson in my opinion.
I suspect Miller desperately wanted Gibson but a string pulling Warner said no and so Miller got upset and decided to relegate Hardy to a support role. This may well have extended to not adequately communicating with the actor on set. Pure speculation of course.
For the record the original
Mad Max is far and away my favourite of the series. I feel it has the best characterisation, setting (society on the verge, and in the process of collapse), musical score, and performances. Talk about doing something stylishly different and brilliant with a deceptively simplistic revenge plot. All for around $350,000. Amazing.
Max's Boss Fifi:
They say people don't believe in heroes anymore. Well, damn them! You and me, Max, we're gonna give 'em back their heroes!
Toecutter:
The Nightrider. That is his name... the Nightrider.
Station Master:
The NightRider.
Toecutter:
Remember him when you look at the night sky
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Oh wait, I think I'll manage
