Furiosa (May 24, 2024)

Jroug said:

Hemsworth's crew having gasoline makes sense if a) this part is earlier in the timeline than Road Warrior or if b) he's getting gas from GasTown.

Click to expand...

jye4ever said:

WB just released the new poster!

View attachment 705060

Click to expand...

Khev said:

Dune 2 was my most anticipated film this year but I definitely think it was eclipsed by Furiosa.

Click to expand...

Khev said:

Holy crap.

Looks like no big new release this upcoming weekend so my local Dolby theater will be keeping it in their main Atmos auditorium for at least another week. I may have to go catch it one more time while I can.

Click to expand...

jye4ever said:

WB just released the new poster!

View attachment 705060

Click to expand...

histrionics said:

Do we really need another Max-centric film? Sure, I'd like to see Max again, but its nostalgia and dedication to the franchise concept that leads me to that desire, more so than any reason or sensibility. What kind of story would Max have now? It was done with the first two films and that's where the Max story perfected itself and resides to this day. What more could the character do that wasn't done in those first films? Perhaps a Gibson old-man Max, but that would have to be a pretty fine and unique screenplay to work. I don't think it would be an easy thing to pull off.

I fear extending Max's folklore means something more like Thunderdome, too much of the same thing, with Max engaged in further derivative adventures saving tribal societies from of their post-apocalyptic misery. That's all he really did and it was his only story. We only needed one iteration of it to work. Max doesn't have much of a character-story arc after the first two films and retreading that story meant laming it down quite a bit as we saw in Thunderdome (btw, I always thought the first half of Thunderdome was great, while the last half was bad... sort of like Return of the Jedi). In Fury Road Max's function was exactly the same and it seemed to work well because he was drawn back just enough and given purpose and meaning with equivalence to Furiosa's deeper story. He did his folk hero work as a catalyst for helping/saving others, while letting a new character have a larger and more profound purpose. I thought it worked quite well, kept me invested in the various characters' stories and kept me engaged in Fury Road as a sustained cinematic experience.

The Mad Max world seems to have more potential for telling other stories, of other character and situations that inhabit that larger folklore, now that Max's adventures are largely established, formed and sealed up in the 80s era of films. The sacrifice of bringing it to 2015 and 2024 respectively meant letting go of the established main character and passing the torch to a new chapter of characters, of which Furiosa was the most firmly established for this decade. It's a tough sell and a bitter pill to swallow for us fans of the originals, but I do believe the Max franchise benefits from an expanded universe approach of stories today. That's probably the most we can hope for and the only approach if we want to see this world on the big screen at all. We should be grateful that Miller is still able to revisit this world and deliver it to the big screen, rather than handing it off to a studio that would likely serialize into a terrible show for television and streaming.

Click to expand...

jye4ever said:

I’m definitely going back this time Dolby Cinema before it gets booted out to streaming.

I can’t get over just how much this movie has me thinking about it nonstop.

Click to expand...

Khev said:

Yeah, Thunderdome was super goofy in parts and the middle really dragged but it still gave Max a well enough send-off.

Click to expand...

histrionics said:

Do we really need another Max-centric film? Sure, I'd like to see Max again, but its nostalgia and dedication to the franchise concept that leads me to that desire, more so than any reason or sensibility. What kind of story would Max have now? It was done with the first two films and that's where the Max story perfected itself and resides to this day. What more could the character do that wasn't done in those first films? Perhaps a Gibson old-man Max, but that would have to be a pretty fine and unique screenplay to work. I don't think it would be an easy thing to pull off.

I fear extending Max's folklore means something more like Thunderdome, too much of the same thing, with Max engaged in further derivative adventures saving tribal societies from of their post-apocalyptic misery. That's all he really did and it was his only story. We only needed one iteration of it to work. Max doesn't have much of a character-story arc after the first two films and retreading that story meant laming it down quite a bit as we saw in Thunderdome (btw, I always thought the first half of Thunderdome was great, while the last half was bad... sort of like Return of the Jedi). In Fury Road Max's function was exactly the same and it seemed to work well because he was drawn back just enough and given purpose and meaning with equivalence to Furiosa's deeper story. He did his folk hero work as a catalyst for helping/saving others, while letting a new character have a larger and more profound purpose. I thought it worked quite well, kept me invested in the various characters' stories and kept me engaged in Fury Road as a sustained cinematic experience.

The Mad Max world seems to have more potential for telling other stories, of other character and situations that inhabit that larger folklore, now that Max's adventures are largely established, formed and sealed up in the 80s era of films. The sacrifice of bringing it to 2015 and 2024 respectively meant letting go of the established main character and passing the torch to a new chapter of characters, of which Furiosa was the most firmly established for this decade. It's a tough sell and a bitter pill to swallow for us fans of the originals, but I do believe the Max franchise benefits from an expanded universe approach of stories today. That's probably the most we can hope for and the only approach if we want to see this world on the big screen at all. We should be grateful that Miller is still able to revisit this world and deliver it to the big screen, rather than handing it off to a studio that would likely serialize into a terrible show for television and streaming.

Click to expand...

Khev said:

I can't believe that her love interest was:

A. A white guy

B. A total badass in his own right

And she submitted to his authority and followed his lead unless some circumstance demanded otherwise. She was crafty and competent and saved his neck a couple times but he saved her life as well. And she was willing to just drop her quest for revenge to live happily ever after with him! Imagine that, wanting ro run away with a (*gasp*) man!

No scene of her publicly kicking ass while men just stand around watching her in awe either. The closest was her securing that chain and being promoted to head winch mechanic or whatever but she had to be "volun-told" to take action in that moment and I still got the impression that any mid-level warboy could have easily done the same.

This film really had zero "Kathleen Kennedy" tropes and it's a shame that box office numbers will send the message to Hollywood that audiences want more female characters like Chani than Furiosa.

Click to expand...

Khev said:

Okay I just read that the script for Furiosa was written BEFORE they even started working on Fury Road so that explains why it's so lacking in modern junk.

Click to expand...

jye4ever said:

I wrote this in my initial review and it’s worth mentioning again because that end climax between the two of them has to be one of the best verbal show downs in quite sometime.

It was really well written and executed.

Click to expand...

Khev said:

Agreed 100%. My son said he actually thought that the movie felt short(!) due to him expecting one more massive action sequence between Furiosa and Dementus. I was expecting something like that too but honestly they were right at that line where even more action at that point would run the risk of audience battle fatigue so in hindsight I think that the more minimalist character interaction between the two was a stroke of genius. It works as a satisfying finale but also segues perfectly into Fury Road for those who do want the story to keep building to an all out war involving all three fortresses.

I wasn't joking when I said that the final interaction between Furiosa and Dementus was more compelling than the Dune 2 final battle and knife fight combined which is just insane.

Click to expand...

jye4ever said:

Absolutely and because of that spectacular climax it definitely helped me forgive most of my problems and proves how important sticking a landing is to a movie, cough..Dune 2..cough.

Click to expand...