Mad max and the fury road

Review

Mad Max is a perfect modern take on the heros journey story device and

is executed perfectly by director George Miller as the story is already

considered one of George Millers babies. We are given our first remake

done by the original director and it is a thing of b eauty and pure

adrenaline.

( f ig1)f i lm poster

The films pacing and storytelling pulls us through the stage of the heros

journey like we were on a heros journey rol ler coaster. This is most

likely due to the fact that this is a fast paced adrenaline-fueled

experience and action driven story instead of a more tension building

action adventure.

This style complements the world that we are introduced to and the fast

paced action of the multiple cars that dominat e the world Max lives in

creating a very complimentary tempo to this film which fits perfectly

with every scene.

After some initial exposition, both by using a montage of news reports ,

we are quickly given a picture of what is supposed to be the ordina ry

world for Max, played by Tom Hardy known for his ability to play strong

characters as his roles in Darknight rises and Lawless have shown us.

(Fig2)opening st i l l

We are introduced to this character during a short monologue as we pan

up to get our first view of Max. This shot and monologue set us up

quickly with a concept art style shot which gives us the information we

need about Max and that this is the normal world for him and is what the

world has become. This is all quickly shattered as the approaching cars

we can hear during the monologue have been heading straight for are

character and we are thrown straight into the action. After we watch Max

get chased down and captured, we in theory are given the stages from the

call to adventure to the refusal to call of adventure and the

supernatural aid which comes as a vision of a little girl and his

attempted escape.

The intro helps the audience to also understand Max as a strong

character as we see during Maxs daring escape attempt, we find out the

fact that this character is fully capable and wont need a mentor

character. He has all the knowledge he needs before the introduction and

shows us the story is fast paced and not reliant on pushing forward using

action as its main plot device . We can see that George Miller is very

comfortable with this story and does not want to just remake the films he

made before but make the film he wanted to the first time round .

There are other scenes which can be seen as Max s heros journey stages ,

but this opening sequence fits the act structure the best an d sets up the

fast pacing of this film. Due to there being two central characters, we get

two possible sets of the opening acts . These opening credits acts should be

taken into consideration due to the films multiple protagonist s and story

lines which end up linking together. After the first couple of acts , this

time taken to set up his characters means, as an audience we have more of

an emotional investment in the story.

As we enter the kingdom of immortal Joe , we are shown a fully realized

world filled with mythology and strong foundations. We can see the

thought that went into this film by the production designer Colin Gibson

and art directors Shira Hockmen and Jacinta Leong .

This strong visual isations of the production team give us a fully

immersive world which we are shown by the talented director of

photography John Seale. Due to this power house of a production team we

truly get the full strength of their vision and thought taken on style and

aesthetics , which does nothing more than make Mad Max a visually

stunning and visually cohesive world. This helps tell the story in ways

that most other action films tend to neglect.

As the film has already set itself up to have a fast pacing, we are quickly

introduced to the other key characters who have been cast extremely well .

All the actors in this film seem to have brought the ir A game to this film

along with their amazing costumes designed by Jenny Beavon. They all

deliver iconic characters who are probably going to be around for ages to

come.

Especially Immortal Joe played by Hugh Keays-Byrne who is the only

cast member from the original Mad Max films when he played Toe

Cutter, but this new performance as Immortal Joe will probably be what

hes remembered for instead , as he brings such a strong presence in his

opening scene. We truly get to understand the plight of the people u nder

his rule just by his acting and appearance alone.

(Fig3) st i l l of immorta l joe

As we are given a quick look at the world in which Immortal Joe rules,

we are introduced to the second main heroin - Imperator Furiosa played

by Charlize Theron from Prometheus films . She plays one of the

strongest on-screen female heroines since Sigourney Weavers role as

Ripley in Aliens and is remembered as much as a pop culture icon as well.

This leads the director George Miller to give us a postmodern first act as

the actions of Furiosa are just as important as M axs and is why Max

technically has two sets of first acts in the heros journey .

When Furiosa goes off track it causes them both to have to a call to

adventure. The act of going off her original mission is her call to action

and her moment of deciding whether or not to go ahead with her plan is

also her refusal of the call to action .

(Fig4) st i l l fro m chase

This sudden plot development shows us that she is also a hero in this

world and brings us back to Max. This action creates a chain reaction

which starts the main adventure.

When Immortal Joe orders his war boys after Furiosa , we are given a

belly of the whale act as well as a call to action as Max is hanging in a

prison being used as a blood bag for Nux , played by Nicholas Hoult . We

could argue this is l iterally the belly of the whale as Max is stuck in a

situation which seems impossible for him to escape but this is also why it

leads us to be able to say that this is a call to action and a refusal of

the call as Nux argues his right to die in battle . Max ends up being

brought into the adventure against his will but this also gets him involved

in the action, making it possible to see this as multiple points.

This also happens again after the amazing set piece , which is just the

convoy trying to catch up with Furio sa. The battle that issues with the

rival faction this whole scene is a beautiful example of good film making ,

where the director has used both practical and CGI in a perfect

combination that delivers a breath-taking car chase.

( f ig5) Making of st i l l o f chase

This whole chase can be seen as one big refusal of the call to adventure

just from Tom Hardys acting in this scene. He delivers the pure feeling

of some one who does not want to be in this situation all the way up until

the supernatural aid and the crossing the threshold moment. As this

film is one big chase, most of the acts happen simultaneous ly with no let

up to the supernatural aid as well as the little girl . The flash backs can

also be seen, as the storm which Furiosa drives head-on through, with

Nux driving Max through this decision is what brings all the characters

together without any great adventure or escape pieces . This is why you

can argue with the fact that both Max and Furiosa are the heroes. When

they meet, they both have their own journey and goals which are

completely different. They both meet due to the goddess , which are

literally shown as being goddesses , when Max comes across The Splendid

Angharad played b Rosie Hntington-Whiteley. Alongside which were

Capable, played by Riley Keough, The Dag Played by Abbey Lee Cheedo,

The Fragile Played by Courtney Eaton and finally Toast the K nowing.

Toast is shot as if she is a mirage, along with the other girls , and is

literally covered in the life force of this world (clean water) and are all

dressed in white like the goddesses they are supposed to be.

( f ig6) pro motional picture

This scene helps to meld the two main heros stories . This scene also uses

literal goddesses but in the wasteland world the goddess for Max is most

likely the rig. The rig holds all the water Max could ever want, and

alongside his freedom, Furiosa shares the same goals. That is why this

scene is considered the final point on the road of trials where Max and

Furiosa battle for the truck. This battle pits them both equally against

each other whilst their true enemy gains ground on them. Whilst they

fight the victor of this battle , Max is then straight away faced with the

women as temptresses, as he has affirmed himself as the greater warrior

and has become a focal point as the hero. He tries to leave and go back to

his ordinary world and when that doesnt work due to the truck being

reprogrammed by Furiosa, he just says he will wait for Immortal J oe.

This point has the best representation of the women as temptress es as it

shows Max trying to abandon his morality just to survival and become a

kind of bad guy . When he realizes this is not an option, the story and

mission gets back on task and Furiosa and Maxs goals become the same.

After a few more high intensity scenes, we come to the atonement with

the father . This scene is not your typical atonement with the father but

is the point which solidifies Max and Furiosas partnership, which then

focuses them on their task. In the scene where Rosie Huntington

Whitelys character Angharad saves Max during Immortal Joes attack

on the tanker, this action is the first time that Max comes face to face

with his enemy. This scene also contains the apotheosis .

As Angharad dies, this creates the point of no return as Max is now fully

embroiled in the mission to get to the Green Place. This scene also creates

an emotional connection with the group he is traveling with , making them

more of a unit.

After this scene the action slows down. This pacing works as it makes the

audience aware of the character -driven side of the s tory. This slowing of

the pacing helps give the viewer a break and also means the director can

set up more of the characters and show more of the in ner-workings of

these characters. We see how Max and Furiosa may be tough as nails but

they are still human beings . This humanization of all the characters is a

beautiful moment and symbolises the contrast between them and

Immortal Joe, who is a monstrous looking character. Though Immortal

Joe does have a moment of humanity where he mourns over the loss he

has just suffered.

Due to the amazing character design in this film, there is always a strong

look to every character, though there is a physical difference in the

character which makes this film easy to read. Immortal Joe and his men

have become physical monsters wi th their power war paint and seemingly

ghoul like appearance . This applies to all the evil characters in the film.

Due to their acceptance of the madness which is the waste land by

showing these people as ghoulish monster s, we can easily read their

greed, insanity and generally evil nature. I think this helps draw a clear

line between good and evil in the harsh wasteland, though when you

consider the in which Immortal Joe mourns his lost love, it brings back

the fact that these are all just men , not beasts. This transition can also be

attributed to Nux. We see him going from a demented war boy at the

beginning to a scared child due to his failures. After this, Nux becomes

much more humanized, as do most of the war boys. This helps the viewer

to truly understand the evil nature of I mmortal Joe and the other leaders.

After this scene the director spends some time developing his characters

more. We see the brides as mother-like characters due to Capable and

Nuxs relationship. This stops the brides from just being useless

background characters and more l ike key allies.

We also get to see a development of a relationship between Furiosa and

Max. This helps humanize these characters and makes them less of

stereotypically action-hero , giving them more depth and reasoning for

their actions. Doing this helps the film lift the narrative away from just

being a constant and mad action film. These developments are needed as

this film is not heavily dialogue-driven and also helps separate the new

Mad Max from the original, more dialogue-driven films. We see more

emotion and character development which is refreshing for an action film

like this , which could so easily have been a Michael Bay-style teenage-

boy-dream. Ultimately, this ends up making the film better-rounded.

(Fig7) actor co mparison picture

As we get to meet Thoriosas people, the Vuvalini , we get to the final act

which is well delivered and brings the audience to realise the strong

messages that the fi lm contains, of gender equality anti - sexism and the

need to look after the plant.

The need for us to care for our planet (and each other) ends up being the

ultimate boon as the knowledge and the seeds the Vuvalini give the brides

is as close to an elixir of life as this film can present without jumping

the shark. This is a smart move, although the film has many points which

could be considered surreal and over the top, they never really push it to

the point of being unbelievable and the bag of seeds is a fitting boom.

The plan that comes out of this is what creat es the refusal to return as

all characters except from Max have sti ll not found peace, but this is how

it fits very well as Maxs ordinary world is his freedom to roam the

wasteland. But he chose to go for the David and Goliath battle, then run

like Furiosa and the Vuvalini have chosen to. After the point in which

Furiosa and the brides gain their true freedom, we get an amazing magic

flight rescue without crossing the return threshold and the master of two

worlds and freedom to live which all fit into the last act

The magic flight is literally their charge back to the citadel.

The rescue from without comes from Nux

The crossing the threshold is their actual return to the citadel, and the

master of two worlds is Max as he knows he has a home and is free to go

back to the wasteland. The fact that all these moments and many of the

act structures happen simultaneously gives this film a good flow and

means it doesnt get stilted at all.

This films use of structure and well fought out scenes makes it a fresh

example of intelligent directing and how a big budget studio film can be

done right with its postmodern concepts but classic story telling and stil l

be fast paced and adrenaline fuelled.

This film will most likely go down as a cult classic in its own right and

both be regarded as its own franchise and a great example of how an old

franchise can be brought to the modern audience without under mining

the original.

Il lustration List

(Fig1) Film Poster

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(Fig2) Opening scene

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(Fig3) st i l l of immorta l joe

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(Fig4) st i l l fro m chase scene

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(Fig5) making of st i l l

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(Fig6)pro motional picture

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content /uploads/2015/08/mad_ max_fury_ road_wallpaper_1920x1080_by_sachso74 -

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(Fig7)co mparison picture

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