Hardy's portrayal of Max is so inconsequential and one note as to feel almost unnecessary and as a result I found Urban's antihero, Dredd, a far more nuanced and compelling character.
Furiosa dominates the film via a great performance, and I've all ready seen 3 preceding Mad Max films where he was in control, so battle fatigued Max as the backseat driver observing an equal counterpart as she takes the wheel is a new and interesting spin on the character. In a story of gender slavery, Mad Man Max playing the "sleeper who must be awakened", is totally on-point.
Raw spectacle Fury Road has in its favour, but with a budget of $150m you kind of expect that.
A bit dismissive of how it used its budget, though. We rarely get the quality of spectacle Fury Road delivers and we're used to big budgets being blown on empty spectacle that means nothing. Fury Road is not spectacle just for the sake of it; it's a moving spectacle in the service of character and world building through visuals: Furiosa, the wives and the milking mothers; Immortan Joe and the various fiefdoms led by corrupted old patriarchs of industry and money; the women of the Sour Land. It's the kind of rich gallery of grotesques that are also hallmarks of 2000AD - and that kind of spectacle we can never expect from films these days. More Brendan McCarthy in films please.
Hence, at this point in time, I'd rather have a Dredd sequel than a Mad Max continuation; unless they find a way to get Gibson back maybe!
It's unlikely the possibility of either film happening will cancel the other's chances and the choice is never mine to make so i'll spoil myself by saying I'm happy to have both.
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mubhceeb
8 years ago
I'd definitely wouldn't mind Brendan McCarthy being involved in a future Dredd movie, much of Fury Road reminded me of his work on the Judge Dredd story, 'OZ'
I guess for me, it had been so long since I'd seen the character of Max, and I saw Thunderdome back in the cinema in '85, I was looking for a proper reintroduction rather than him bring sidelined, as strong as Theron's performance was as Furiosa.
To me Dredd was more of a return to the gorilla filmmaking of the 70's and 80's and not unlike Miller's early work on Mad Max 1 and 2 and I much prefer that approach than the more extravagant approach that begin with Thunderdome and hit its zenith witn Fury Road.
To be honest, I've always been more invested with Judge Dredd as a character, as I've read the comic since the 70's and Max came after and was, seemingly, strongly influenced Mad Max.
Bring Back Dredd sequel Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/BringBackDredd/
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The_Idiocrat
8 years ago
Dredd was more of a return to the gorilla filmmaking of the 70's and 80's and not unlike Miller's early work on Mad Max 1 and 2 and I much prefer that approach than the more extravagant approach that begin with Thunderdome and hit its zenith witn Fury Road.
Kinda; the similarities are only in terms of operating within a lower budget and the use of present day vehicles but it doesn't have the kinetic energy of Miller's films or the strength of direction. The 3D aspect probably hampered how much they could shoot in a day. It would be pointless for a new Mad Max film to just retread MM 1 or 2 so it needed the broader canvas - just as Dredd needs if it ever gets more films.
To be honest, I've lways been more invested with Judge Dredd as a character, as I've read the comic since the 70's and Max came after and, seemingly, strongly influenced Mad Max.
Mad Max was shot the same year as Dredd's first appearance so if there was any real influence it most likely came after the first film's release in subsequent sequels and it was likely a shared influence and appreciation on both sides as they both moved into the 1980s - just as Dredd took from Dirty Harry, Logan's Run and Damnation Alley. Certainly this is the case with McCarthy's work since he took a lot of inspiration from Max.
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