Everything GREAT About Mad Max Fury Road! (Part 3)

Mad Max Fury Road. This is part three, so let's just jump right into it with some cool random details I left out of parts one and two. How about the blood on the barrel of Furiosa's gun after smashing the ace's face with it? How about Slit trying to bite Max's boot just as he's kicked off of Nux's car? How about the water hose line getting stuck under the tire and disconnecting with what looks like a breakaway fitting? Just the general amazing camerawork beyond center framing these huge sweeping wide shots through moving vehicles. And it's not without comedy. And you could go through every diegetic sound in the film and be impressed. Even the war rig horn is unique and makes you feel stuff. A fun thematic slash narrative thread that runs throughout is the loss of your senses. The Morton Joe has no visible mouth and then loses it all by the end, so he can't talk or taste. The people eater's nose is gone, so he can't smell. The bullet farmer loses his eyes, no seeing for him. Furiosa is missing a hand, which limits touch. And Max, well, Max shouldn't be able to hear a single thing. Why do you think he's constantly grunting and mumbling? He didn't not want to give his name to Furiosa. He didn't hear the question. There's also the fact that we've been given one of the most innocuous sounding, but for those in the know, harshest criticisms known to man. So who needs a plot? I'm kidding. I think part of what makes this movie feel like there's no plot is that Max is the protagonist, but he's not the main character. This is Furiosa's story. Max is mostly along for the ride, and he even confirms that in the end by getting off the ride. But after Mad Max 1, that's been precisely how these stories play out. He stumbles into the Lord Humongous Gang versus Gasoline Refinery group. He stumbles into Barter Town and helps overthrow Master Blaster, and then again stumbles into the Lost Tribe and their whole pilot thing. He's always just bouncing around from group to group, fixing problems for others. It hasn't really felt like Max's story since Mad Max, making the narrative feel like a runaway train. Here's a great example. Mikey Newman from Movies with Mikey mentioned in his Fury Road video that the only reason the Fab Crew escapes Immortan Joe in this canyon scene is because Aang Harad felt useless since she couldn't load the gun. So to feel useful, she protects Furiosa and helps cut the chain crushing Max's hand, which leads to her falling off the war rig, and Joe, attempting to dodge her body, flips Bigfoot, leaving no one else to pursue Furiosa's Fab Crew. And like I mentioned, she only slipped because Max had shot her earlier. And that's all the continuation of the no-holds-barred, constantly-getting-through-by-the-seat-of-your-pants slash-skin-of-your-teeth narrative that is Max's entire existence. Ironically, it's also kind of a Mel Gibson thing, the image of Riggs smashing his shoulder into things to reset a dislocation comes to mind, but every minute yet often horrible detail happening in this movie keeps the story going, keeps our friends going. It doesn't matter whether Miller planned for Furiosa to take the wives back to the Citadel from the beginning, for the record, it was planned, but they only stopped their trek across the desert because of Max. And here's a fun one, because Max already did this once. In Beyond Thunderdome, he just about dies before Savannah Nix finds him and drags him back to life. The Salt Flats are dried-up oceans, right? That's what makes sense. Well, Max, the only actually mortal in the movie, contrary to Joe's moniker, has been around since there were oceans. He used to live by one. Yes, this messes with the timeline, but Max would be a lot older than Furiosa, and she may have no clue what the Salt Flats are. By all accounts, Max is older than the many mothers. None of this matters, it's just fun to think about. The point was that they only turn around because Max stops them and comes up with the Anyway, we were all very fixated on when this took place in the timeline. There was a theory that it was a Road Warrior prequel, Mad Max sequel, that Toecutter had survived, changed his name to Joe, and his son Rictus became Lord Humongous. Eh. But the truth is… the truth is that George really doesn't care. He wants to keep this story going, and it doesn't matter to him where it lands. It's after Thunderdome, there are enough little nods here and there that it's safe to say that, but just like James Bond has memories from different actors portraying the character, just don't worry about it too much. I will personally watch Miller make these movies with whomever, forever, formever. But this brings me to a point that you're going to think is an insult, it's really not. I think George Miller is… an okay storyteller. Hear me out, hear me out. Look, I haven't seen Happy Feet in it's been a while since Babe, Big in the City, but when it comes to Mad Max… eh? All three of the originals are movies I love, but having just rewatched them in preparation for these videos, I'm reminded that number one, George LOVES to punish his audience, and number two, I'm not sure he ever knew where any of these stories were going until they got there. They seem to be mostly formed around set pieces. Mad Max has sloppy structure with missing chunks that make for a confusing narrative that then just stalls out about halfway through to then wrap up super quickly. Not even Miller is all that proud of it. Road Warrior is definitely the best of the bunch, but still has multiple false starts, pacing and motivation issues throughout, and an uneven ending. And then even Beyond Thunderdome couldn't decide what the characters were about right up until the last seconds, even Max. It also feels very much like two movies smooshed together. I love all three, the strangeness of each is part of the charm, and no one watches these movies for the story anyway. That's the reason I bring it up, because Fury Road feels like the first time they said, let's just not worry too much about story, and they actually nailed the story. Story and tone. That's why they have 3500 storyboards before any semblance of a screenplay. And don't get me wrong, the dialogue is still goofy some of the time, which makes sense since this was Miller's version of a silent film. But that's something that Miller has been doing with the franchise from day one. In fact, one of my favorite things about this movie is the continuation of what has been set up in previous films. I still remember the first time I saw Mad Max, it was after already having seen Road Warrior on TNT a dozen times, so I couldn't believe it George Miller admitted that the only reason he added this line was because they couldn't afford populated shooting locations, and it was just easier this way. But, Mad Max is right towards the end of civilization as we know it, it's still pre-apocalypse, that happens sometime between 1 and 2, depending on who you ask and when you ask them. Some believe the bombs didn't fall until post-Road Warrior, but to me, Road Warrior is peak post-apocalypse. Roving gangs, a group of people have built a makeshift settlement around an oil refinery, but it's utter chaos. By the end, they're headed somewhere that's supposed to be better. Beyond Thunderdome introduces Bartertown, their post-apocalyptic version of a town with some rules and commerce. It's still chaotic, ruthless, and savage, but the forming of a new society is taking place. They even have a night life. Now, we have Fury Road, where a society seems to have settled in. There are different cities, each responsible for its own GDP, and they seem to cooperate even if each is ruled by its own warlord. A little side note here, something I touched on briefly, but just to be clear, The answer is rhetorical. Everyone left. And everyone who's left is obsessed with violence and has commodified everything to the point that human milk and blood, people, even babies, are property. And this post-civilization world has even removed the vast majority of the population from their economic system. It doesn't seem like normies can buy water from Immortan Joe, they need to wait for him to be feeling benevolent. The apparent idea is that once you strip everything from your populace, what is there left to fleece? The warlords all trade with their commodities, but even they're screwed if Joe decides to turn off the spigots. Water is pretty crucial for living, and stuff. But back to the continuation from previous movies, there's also the progression of vehicles. Mad Max had regular cars and motorcycles, Road Warrior had a crossover of some regular cars and trucks with a few dune buggies, the gyro, obviously, and a few more specialized vehicles. Beyond Thunderdome was exclusively custom, cobbled together vehicles with roll cages, all adapted to be more resilient and faster, but they're also filthy and look like they might fall apart. Now, we've expanded on that idea into complete and utter absurdity. They've started polishing their chrome again, and reincorporating pieces of the old world in the most ridiculous ways. You could argue that the cars are actually better in Fury Road than they are in, like, normal life now. Probably not passing any emission standards, but if society is reflected through the vehicles they drive, the mere fact that scarcity doesn't prevent Immortan Joe from having the doof wagon says a lot about where they are in terms of progress. If I had to pin a central theme on this movie, redemption seems to be the best fit, they're all searching for it, Nux finds his, Furiosa finds some, even Max finds that righteous cause. Each of them has their own sins they carry, each's arc has a different curve and ending, but by working together, they find some kind of truth. Honestly, like I said in part one, I'll watch this movie again in a year and find more details, and I imagine it will reveal something new thematically as well. Art evolves as we do. One day you'll watch and see yourself and Max the next time in Nux. No judgment. Hakuna Matata, baby. One thing is for sure, I don't think I'll ever get tired of Mad Max Fury Road. Hey! So this is a weird video to end this year on. Most of you watching this one are the real fans that have helped build this community over the last five years, and I can't thank you all enough. It's always fun to see new people enter into a random comment section and say something like, my gosh, this is the most positive and wholesome comment section ever! And that's thanks to you. I like to think we've built something unique here, and I don't say that just to say it. Your comments, short or long, sarcastic or sincere, have shaped the channel and the way I create videos that it truly is collaborative in some ways. I hope this has been a place of entertainment and even a little bit of escape from a year that wasn't the greatest for many, many people. So, thank you. I'll be taking most of January off like I usually do, sort of, all depends on when I get my computer back, but anyway, here's to 2021 and some fun new movies for us to all love together! There's high ground just beyond that thing. He means the tree. Yeah, tree. Gotta use a winch around the tree thing.