Why George Miller’s New Action Flick ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ isn’t Quite the Win that the Film Industry Expected.
Written & Edited by: Lee Fenton
If I were to guess – it’s the look of the film.
That (VFX) over-glossed aesthetic is not helping ticket sales at all.
The original was a low-budget Australian picture, gritty, and grounded in realism – being of the exploitation era of filmmaking, the first Mad Max was shot with camera/lenses that were extremely low-grade. This ensured it had a “mockumentary” feel and look, even though that’s not the genre the ‘Mad Max’ films belonged to. The closest comparison I can think of is Dennis Hopper’s ‘Easy Rider’ or ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, both titles heralded the revolution of independent films in the 70s. Then as budgets inflated; each subsequent release became more slick and polished, continuing to this day with the latest entry, ‘Furiosa’.
It could be argued that ‘Mad Max: The Road Warrior’ was the height of the franchise, utilizing big budget techniques but still incorporating the unpolished look of the first film. By the time Thunderdome was made – it was quite clear that director George Miller had been seduced by the superficial elements of blockbuster filmmaking; over the top action set-pieces, big name stars, and huge elaborate sets – the purpose of these additions? To realize the wasteland like never before. And it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact Mad Max: Thunderdome proved to be a commercial and critical success; netting an Academy Award in the process. The film accomplishes more worldbuilding than any of the previous entries, which is impressive. Tina Turner took home the much deserved Oscar for her portrayal of the villainous, wasteland ruler “Aunty Entity”.
In my opinion, she’s easily one of the best parts of ‘Thunderdome’. Her acting is energetic; scenery chewing, mouth foaming, goodness. “Aunty Entity” is over-dramatic, delivering spine-chilling speeches and owning the flamboyant nature of her villany. Turner’s performance helped to make up for the movie’s often-mentioned failings. The biggest vice that this film commits is the titular “Mad Max” (played by Mel Gibson) is sort of ruined
That’s right – ‘Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome’ ruined the characterization of the wasteland wanderer known as… Mad Max.
And it’s not all Mel’s fault – the character had been nerfed due to a PG-13 rating, removing the unhinged, apocalyptic warrior and replacing Max with a facsimile of his former self, one that had had it’s corners rounded and sharp edges softened. Instead of a man who’s slow descent into madness enthralls and captures the imagination, we are instead treated to your run-of-the-mill action hero; cheesy one-liners and conventional stoicness.
(They should’ve just called him “Max” sans the “Mad” – would’ve made more sense.)
In the years since – devoted fans of “Mad Max” have been of the mind that ‘Thunderdome’ is the movie that veered so far from the spirit of the original, it caused many to feel disillusioned with the main character (and the property as a whole); it had lost those gritty and real elements – the essential ingredients that made it a unique action-thriller to begin with. There were less highway action sequences in the third film and the stunts had lost that allure of “gonzo” filming, now they were executed in a manner that was the same as any other Hollywood feature.
Indeed, there were some major injuries in the first film – one shot in particular as an extra is tossed from their motorbike, was left in the movie and has become a talking point for fans (and for the longest time; a bona-fide Hollywood urban legend). It was rumoured for decades that the man in the scene had died performing the stunt (Dale Bensch), however Dale himself has clarified that he is indeed still alive, and in fact quite happy that the footage was left in the film.
“In mid-1977 Dale Bensch and a couple of mates spotted an ad in Peter Stevens requesting 10 film extras. Little did they know how much that casting call would change their lives. Nearly 44 years later, Bensch is still revered around the world for the hair-raising stunt that gave rise to the urban myth that he was killed in the making of the low-budget post-apocalyptic thriller, Mad Max.”
“Dale Bensch is alive and well, retired, and lives a quiet life in Melbourne. He enjoys riding his Harley and after a long absence from the Mad Max phenomenon, he loves engaging with the film’s hard-core fans both here and abroad. He’s visited Mad Max-crazed Japan four times.”
[2]
I don’t want to act like everything about ‘Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome’ led to the downfall of the series – but it may have been the beginning of the franchise being driven off the edge of a very steep cliff.
There are some who have attacked it for being commercialized and lacking any stakes.
Brian Eggert of DeepFocusReview on ‘Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome’:
“Nevertheless, high-octane crashes, explosions, and mayhem result in little onscreen death, with several despicable villain characters surviving the fracas if only to sustain the film’s commercial appeal.” [1]
But back to the current entries:
Mad Max: Fury Road managed to combine obvious practical effects with a lot of VFX to make a very shiny looking finished product – but not so much so that it looked completely unbelievable. It still underperformed but not as bad as this latest entry.
When I saw the trailer for ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ it reminded me a bit of Zach Snyder’s ‘Suckerpunch’ or ‘Green Lantern’. This is to say – it threw me off more than a bit.
However, most of the reviews put out on ‘Furiosa’ have been a glowing endorsement of the film as a whole. Everyone who’s seen the movie – enjoys it, but alas not that many people are choosing to see it. It seems that audience goers just aren’t going to spend their money to catch this film in a multiplex – contrarily; digital streaming, DVD sales, and on-demand orders – might be a different story. I have a sneaking suspicion George Miller’s latest project will soar in popularity once it hits home release.
From what I’ve heard ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ is a sensational, post-apocalyptic, high-octane, action juggernaut – that just keeps rolling at high-speed until crashing into the credits after a triumphant final scene. Supposedly, it delivers a lot of that classic “Mad Max” frenetic energy. It’s far from a perfect movie – but the majority of critics and Youtube reviewers are singing its praises. It may well – be a sublime experience for fans of George Miller’s classic Mad Max series. Indeed, Furiosa currently sits at 90% on RottenTomatoes – and that’s 90% for critics and 90% for audiences.
It’s rare that those two groups ever agree, much less give a movie the exact same score.
I won’t deny that there are other potential factors that may have led to this film’s lackluster box office – first off – it’s a prequel – second off, they recast the lead from the previous movie (Charlize Theron to Anya Taylor-Joy) – and thirdly, probably the most overt reason; there is no Mad Max in this movie.
Also, the “box office” blues are running rampant as of late, so, yes most releases are struggling to garner a buzz and perform well at the box office.
But do I think any of those reasons were as detrimental as the visual aesthetic that the director chose to go with?
No. I do not.
If everything in your latest film looks as if it was done on green screen, when previous entries in your franchise were loved for their in-camera practical effects – that’s a sure way to alienate your fanbase.
Hell, I actually feel deja-vu when discussing this topic; since the exact same problem arose for Peter Jackson with his release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012). Even though that first film stayed fairly true to the spirit of JRR Tolkien’s writing and Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy – it still failed to awe anyone with its cinematics. ‘The Hobbit’ looked like an xbox game at times and at others just an over-polished mess of green-screen. Where were all the handcrafted miniatures, armour, weapons, and painstaking prosthetic/makeups fans were used to?
Gone, and instead – replaced with shoddy computer graphics and uninspired digital manipulations. There were a few elements that were CGI in the original trilogy – now almost everything was. This also caused Ian McKellen to have a breakdown on-set and deliver a sub-par portrayal as ‘Gandalf’ a character that he had made iconic in the previous movies.
It’s quite sad.
Ian McKellen was quoted as saying in ‘The Hobbit’ behind-the-scenes “Appendices”:
“You can’t see the faces of the other actors you’re working with, who can all see each other on the adjacent set... I got absolutely miserable and had a little cry to myself. I didn’t realize that the microphone I was wearing was open so that everybody could hear me, muttering to myself about how I wanted to go home and so on... It was so distressing and off-putting and difficult that, I thought, ‘I don’t want to make this film if this is what I’m going to have to do’. It’s not what I do for a living. I act with other people; I don’t act on my own." [3]
Note: The major reason Peter Jackson went with visual effects instead of practical was his choice to shoot with 3D cameras. It’s next to impossible to hide on-screen trickery when shooting in 3D.
‘The Hobbit’ (2012) contains a lot of brilliance. Just not enough to make the movie work – since most of the magic was lost in translating the picture to a format that would work for 3D cameras.
But back to the matter at hand, Mad Max.
Apparently, part of the reason George Miller went with visual effects (over practical or SFX; in camera) for ‘Furiosa’ was due to safety concerns. His last production ‘Fury Road’ was fraught with multiple accidents that caused delays in shooting, giving the movie some bad press before release. Hopefully, with this new film – enough people will look past the veneer of plastic that’s coating this thing to get to the acrid smelling, raw (and sometimes) explosive petroleum that’s contained within.
If not, you can always “just walk away”.
(Road Warrior is the best.)
DEDICATION:
“Grant Page, the Australian stunt icon who performed in and coordinating stunts for the original Mad Max, sequel Beyond Thunderdome, the upcoming prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and more than 100 other films and TV series, died Thursday in a car crash. He was 85.
His son, Leroy Page, told Daily Mail Australia that his father hit a tree while he was driving near his home in Kendall, New South Wales. “He died in very high spirits, and he was very motivated,” the younger Page told the paper. “He was very happy.” [4]
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SOURCES:
[1] https://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome/
[2]
[3]https://screenrant.com/ian-mckellen-hobbit-quit-acting-gandalf/
[4] https://deadline.com/2024/03/grant-page-dead-mad-max-stuntman-1235859