A World Without Mel: Mad Max Fury Road

Full disclosure - I love Mel Gibson. No, I don't love love him, and I wouldn't say I even had a man crush on him. My love for Mel is purely based on an appreciation for his talent. Talent might even be too strong a word for it. What I appreciate most about him is his presence. Whether you consider him in his heyday as a young, charismatic leading man (sans mullet), or in his later years as an acclaimed director, you have to admit, the man has presence.

Now, obviously there's the private life of Mel that we're all aware of - his drinking, his relationships, his religion. To be honest, I generally avoid the tabloids and what celebrities do outside of their work. Fact is, some of my 'heroes' have been highly flawed individuals with questionable ideals. J. D. Salinger, for instance. Or Philip K Dick. Want to knock someone of the pedestal you've put them on? Read their biography.

Anyone who's had a quick look at this blog will undoubtedly notice numerous references to the Mad Max films (particularly Beyond Thunderdome, my favourite). So, when shooting began on Fury Road, I was excited to see where George Miller would take our eponymous hero. Since it's release, I've watched it repeatedly - and there are very few movies released this decade that I could say the same thing for. Fury Road is an extremely well made, highly watchable film, but it isn't perfect. Even on the first viewing, I knew something was off. Sure, the throwbacks to the previous films were often off-putting. The lack of screen time for Tom Hardy's Max was somewhat baffling. But my biggest issue with the film was the complete lack of disregard for the timeline.

George Miller has never been one to pander to the desires of the fans. Once you've seen Bruce Spence play a pilot in the second film and a completely different pilot in the third, it becomes pretty clear that Miller isn't fazed by a need to retain perfect continuity between films.

Bruce Spence: Gyro Captain/Jedediah the Pilot.

The society and structure of the world of Fury Road is so different to the previous films, so extreme, it would make sense to call this a comic book style reboot. Except you can't, because the prelude graphic novel released after the film tells us the first three movies are cannon. 

According to the comic (and films), Max Rockatansky was a member of the Main Force Patrol. His wife and child were killed by a motorcycle gang, the oil and water dried up, there was a nuclear war followed by the 'road wars' (or vice versa, depending on what you read), and Max occasionally and unintentionally became embroiled in the lives and dramas of others - all in the space of maybe 6 years? A detailed (and better) breakdown of the timeline can be found on the Mad Max Wiki.

Mel's age while filming Thunderdome was about 30, while Tom Hardy's age in Fury Road was almost 40. Could the world of Immortan Joe have been built in less than 20 years? It might be possible, except that the comics tell us that Nux joined the War Boys as a baby, and the War Boys were clearly an established thing at that point. Nux being about 20 years old during the events of Fury Road means that the timeline of Immortan Joe's Citadel fails to correlate.

All of this conjecture would be unnecessary if Fury Road had been made when it was originally conceived – in the late 90s. Apparently, little of the script changed between then and the final shooting script, and when you imagine Max as a feral 50 year old living alone in the wastelands, the rest of the story makes a lot more sense. Like Harrison Ford in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Mel could have done a few tame stunts. The story could then have moved away from him to the more able bodied characters (Nux, Furiosa). Even if they'd filmed it in the mid 2000s, an older, grislier Max would still have worked. Of course, the mid 2000s scandals made Mel “box office poison”, so a new, younger actor was sought. Enter Tom Hardy. Exit plot consistency and continuity.

Mark Sexton: Storyboard Artist

I recently spoke to Mark Sexton, the storyboard artist and one of the driving forces behind Fury Road, about this particular topic. My feelings were that Mel, even at the height of his infamy, would have been perfect to play the old, wastelands 'feral'. 

His reputation couldn't have possibly hurt the film (the fans of Mad Max are hardly the type to vilify a mean drunk with dubious beliefs). I mentioned to Mr Sexton that it was clear the part of Max in Fury Road was meant for an older, less agile actor, considering his lack of screen time. He said that wasn't the case. Sure, the part was originally written for Mel back in the late 90s, but when the role was recast the story was modified to suit. The reason for Max's limited screen time had nothing to do with the intended age of the character. Instead, he explained, Max's reduced storyline was due to Tom Hardy's inability to perform in a measured and consistent manner. 

According to Sexton, Charlize Theron was a consummate professional, frequently asking Miller for her character's motivation and working closely with him to achieve the excellent performance we see on screen. Hardy, on the other hand, asked few questions, and Miller offered little direction. So, Hardy's Max was one minute gruff and stoic, and the next, zany and bouncing off the walls. Think Bronson; and if you can get through the first 10 minutes of that without switching it off, more power to you. The end result was that Miller had to edit around Hardy's performance, creating a consistent character in the editing suite. Which meant much of his screen time was cut. Consider the few occasions Hardy speaks in the movie. At times he seems to be channelling Bane, at others he attempts an Australian accent (with little success). Furiosa and Nux are the main characters of the film, not because they were meant to be, but because Hardy blew it.

A world with Mel, regardless of his drunken, violent, ridiculous real life persona, is better than a world without. And if you don't believe me, watch 2012's Get the Gringo (AKA How I Spent My Summer Vacation). Mel proves he still has what it takes to play a hardass. And he certainly has presence.