MovieChat Forums > Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Discussion > Not half as good as its hype

Not half as good as its hype

posted 6 years ago by Heisenberg (6730)
37 replies | jump to latest

Hopefully the dust has settled on this one, and people see clearly it's NOT such a masterpiece of filmmaking as the hype in 2015.

What bothers me the most about this, other than its unjustified hype, is the wasted opportunity to be a true classic for the ages (like other mad max movies have been): the action was kinda bland and repetitive (one big escape, going back and forth in the desert...not very interesting, nor new), and the main character (Max) and its motivations were sketchy at best.

It centered on the new main character, Furiosa, who is not that interesting to begin with, they gave her an uninteresting task, and didn't manage to create any interesting dynamic between her, Max, or the bad guys. The only connection in the story is between her and the women-load, but other than gender solidarity, I don't know really why such a connection is in this movie.

It's a glorified B movie that never aimed to be much more than a vehicle to showcase some character design and car ideas (doof warrior), and it's a pity because, with a decent screenwriter, it could have been a classic.

[–] Ace_Spade (9658) 4 years ago

I think it was overhyped and overrated, but only because of the effluvience of superlatives that were given over to the film. Taken as itself, with no hype, I think it's pretty masterfully done. The plot is stripped-down and serviceable, but nothing to be awed by, but the execution is pitch-perfect for the tone that Romero wants. He set out to accomplish an action-chase movie where everything happens through the car chases and gun battles and darned if he didn't succeed.

The choreography, the look, the feel - the film nails all this stuff and makes it look easy (which means it was brutally hard) and it gave us a solid execution of a post-apocalyptic desert fable.

I did see a dynamic between her and Max (they slowly build trust and cooperation throughout the film), they do have arcs, and the task isn't interesting in the sense that it's just "we're running to escape hellish slavery and we're heading for the 'promised land'," but it doesn't have to be. I liked John Wick, but his task is, "I want revenge for a guy pushing me over on the worst day of my life; now I have to defend myself against counter-revenge," but I don't care because the movie is slick and fun - just like Fury Road.

[–] rnmboon (448) 4 years ago

This movie and the first two Mad Max movies are classics in their own genre (post apocalyptic action movies?) but not masterpieces. I like all of them but but the 2015-movie definitely was hyped a bit too much. It's a good movie but nothing more than that.