Three Tropes ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Must Overcome to Go the Distance

Mad Max is on his way. Slowly, but surely, photos, plot points and projections have been unfolding online about Miller's new addition to his canon. While Tom Hardy seems to be a legitimate choice, I am a little nervous about three things: budget, environment/tone and plotting. So, pretty much everything. 

Considering the budget of the first two films was a total of not even three million, I do worry what the Mad Max universe will look like with a 100 million dollar budget. And yes, I understand that first number should be adjusted for inflation, but even still it does not come close to this current day budget. The original stood on the platform of low-budget filmmaking and was successful in this endeavor. The Road Warrior was injected with a larger budget (around two million) and proved larger scale can sometimes pay off. Thunderdome plagued the series and dumbed down the earlier cemented notions of morality in an unjust world. George Miller is at the helm, though, and I do trust that he will have a focused vision for his money to support. 

Miller birthed new senses of post-apocalyptic tonality, philosophies and garb. But since there has been such a time gap between the mid 80's till now this genre has been saturated with wannabes (eg: Doomsday). MMFR must find a unique way to differentiate itself from these cinematic attempts and capitalize on it hard and early in the story. 

I am ready to see how the story unfolds (and seeing Hardy and Theron hopefully lock-in some solid performances). Again, though, it needs to be a stand alone plot that does not simply build on the backbone of the previous chapters. The occasional throwback I can live with, but there does not need to be plot points that hinge on the saving grace of nostalgia. 

You can also find more Mad Max: Fury Road pictures HERE.