[…] fact, I think Anita’s point is much more shrewd then she may be given credit for by. Over at Terminally Incoherent, Luke Maciak raises some key points that Anita glosses over when she asserts her reading of the […]

I’ve been thinking about this movie quite a bit over the past few week after seeing it. I think it is one of those rare, smart movies that come into being every once and a while and stir quite the interesting conversation across the ideological mine-field that is the Internet. Anyways, there are some well said points here. I do believe Anita Sarkeesian’s shrewd points are worth considering in the long run, but in the context of Fury Road, I think her observations were, I guess, too quick or too judgmental, avoiding any real engagement with the film. Of course Fury Road isn’t a perfect piece, but I believe that because it is generating such wonderful and stimulating conversation between thinkers on the Internet, it is a precious film that needs to be (cautiously) celebrated while being critiqued.

@ Victoria:

To be honest, Max was always kinda the supporting character in his own movies. The plot was usually: Max blunders into a situation he wants no part of, but he can’t make himself to walk away. So I didn’t really mind it. I kinda like the fact he wasn’t the heroic savior who swoops in to fix everything. He was an outsider who blunders into a situation beyond his control, and tries to help as much as he can to make things right. He was useful, instrumental, but he wasn’t the all powerful action hero. And I like that, because it is a nice subversion.

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing more action movies taking this route with their hero: make him strong, competent, interesting, but not all powerful. Make the final victory seem like a team effort rather than solo win for the hero.

As for the water valves, yeah I kinda had the same reaction. But I think it was meant to be symbolic: Furiosa’s ascending to power meant end of the caste system, and redistribution of wealth. I kinda figured they would have to shut the water down eventually and start rationing it in the long run.

Well, I for one didn’t love the movie. It’s hard to explain why exactly but it wasn’t Mad Max, it was Fury Road. Of course, I only have child memories of the original movies, more an image in my head than an opinion.

But despite being the titular protagonist, it is not really his story. It is Furiosa’s.

That is my problem, probably. Don’t call it Mad Max then – he felt like a supporting character with annoying hallucinations.

Furiosa was awesome and it was her movie. As I said, I am all for that, and I loved the fact that Charlize Theron, bold, dirty and with one hand, looked regal and imposing next to a bunch of models half her age.

World details, cars, sand storms, pop culture turned religion – great. People covered in white paint against the sun – nice touch.

The end was a tad silly for me, like Elysium – let’s open the water valves and let the greatest treasure in the world just turn to mud without knowing how much water is there or how it is being brought up so that the pipes run dry and we have a second round on our hands.