What Filmmakers Can Learn From Mad Max: Fury Road

Upon a recent viewing of Mad Max: Fury Road, I was reminded of exactly the reasons why I love this film.  Not only was it my favourite film of 2015, I picked it as the best movie experience since my friend Chris and I started podcasting about movies five years ago.  Yes, I liked it that much.  It was a film that was pure adrenaline rush, and was worthy of the ten Oscars it was nominated for, and the six that it won.  There was some really good film making on display here, and I would like to talk about four major take-aways from the film that people can learn from.

Simple Story - Nothing Complex Needed

Essentially the story is as simple as a massive chase scene.  We have Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) helping the concubines of Immortan Joe escape from his clutches.  Their paths cross with Max (Tom Hardy), who has been captured by Immortan Joe's war boys and he escapes with Furiosa.  There.  That's the story.  Tom Hardy never even reveals his name until the last few minutes of the film.  There is very little dialogue, and everything is simple and straight forward.

What is impressive here is the fact that while being uncomplicated and streamline, there is still something to focus on.  We have three main characters.  Furiosa, Max, and Nux (Nicholas Hoult), who is a war boy.  Even through sparse dialogue and almost non-stop action, each of these characters has a story arc.  Some films can't manage having an arc for even one character, let alone three.

In a time where scripts seem to feel the need to be convoluted at times and throw endless twists and turns into the mix, George Miller reminded everyone that top notch story telling could still happen with a minimalist hand.  Create characters, give them a reason for taking action, and follow it through.  Simple, straight forward, and still extremely satisfying.

Nothing Looks Better Than Well Done Practical Effects

I won't pretend that there is no computer animation in this film, because there is a lot of it.  However, incredible detail was paid to doing as much practically as possible.  There are uncountable unique, post-apocalyptic vehicles in this film.  Each of those were physically built.  Not only were they constructed, they could all drive so they would be used in the film.  Explosions happened in real life.  Mind blowing stunts happened.  All of this taking place while the vehicles are actually driving through the desert.

The amount of planning to coordinate everything that was done is almost impossible to fathom.  With doing so much practically, there are so many elements that could go wrong, which is probably why blockbusters generally rely on the controllable nature of CGI.  Some movies can make the images look believable, but sitting in the theatre, seeing those brilliant life-like explosions, people jumping from vehicles, and collisions, it was a jaw-dropping experience.  While George Lucas was taking the industry towards nothing but green screens years ago, a brave wave of directors have lately been showing audiences and critics the unimaginable beauty of actually creating the experience.

Women Can Kick Just as Much Ass as Men

This film is actually quite subversive.  We are given the scantily clad, out of their league appearance of Immortan Joe's sex slaves.  It is as blatant 'damsel in distress' imagery that could ever be made.  I had a feeling that George Miller wanted to throw this horrible cliche into his film just to throw it on its head.  Standing toe to toe with Mad Max in combat ability is Furiosa.  Theron plays her in a smooth, almost effortless feeling way that perfectly delivers the physical capabilities of her character.

Not only do we have Furiosa, but a group of older woman in a roving motorcycle gang.  One of the typical images of the post-apocolyptic world is bands of tough looking males on motorcycles, and here we have Miller giving us post-menopausal women.  Beautifully, they don't disappoint.  We believe everything they do, their toughness, and the fact that they can match up with any man.  It felt as though it was a mission of George Miller to play around with stereotypes and crush this feeling in cinema that if you wanted an action star it had to be a male.  Even though Max's name is in the title, this is just as much Furiosa's film.  They are of equal importance here, showing us that gender matters not.

No Expository Dialogue

The opening to the film is indeed narration to set up what is about to happen, but it is quite vague.  The movie starts, and we are just introduced to different things without being told what it is all about and the purpose to it.  Max gets hung in a cage and called a 'blood bag,' and there is nothing to specifically inform us that the war boys are sick and that people in the wastelands get caught to be used for blood transfusions.  Another example is that we are told Furiosa is an Imperator, but, after six viewings, I still can't find the moment when we are told what that means.

The film introduces us to a world that works in its own ways, that has its own routines and habits.  As the viewer, we are just thrown in and not educated on what is happening and why they do things certain ways.  What this leads to is feeling like we are literally dropped into a fictional world, scrambling around just as one of the lead protagonists does.  The experience that we are given allows us to realize that we don't necessarily need to know everything, and that perhaps just witnessing a story happening is better than having it explained.

Box Office Predictions: 'The Fate of the Furious'

Every now and then there is a time in theatres when there is only one wide release scheduled.  It usually signifies a stand out performance is expected and there is little that wants to go up against it.  It isn't necessarily the case with all blockbusters, as sometimes counter programming offers options for those that don't want to watch the latest Star Wars.  This weekend is one where there is nothing else in sight other than fast cars and tuned up bodies.

Two years ago, around the same time of year (give or take a week earlier) Furious 7 burst into movie theatres across the continent and set forth the largest April opening weekend on record with $147 million.  It also sits in fifth place for the highest world wide opening weekends of all time with $397 million.  Furious 7 was a movie that turned a lot of heads and got a lot of people to flood the theatres, and Universal is looking to repeat that with this year's offering.

However, I don't think that it is going to perform as well as the previous attempt.  There was something going for Furious 7 that the latest instalment does not have, and that is the death of Paul Walker.  His passing gave new light to the movie, and inspired an ending to it that was a farewell to the deceased actor.  That boosted interest in the movie is now gone, and it is going to come down to general marketing and audience interest to get the wheels spinning on this one.

There have been a few additions to the cast to add to the already beefed up star power, but I don't see Helen Mirren as a talent that fans of the franchise know too much about.  They could be excited to see Charlize Theron playing the villain, which is something that positive reviews of the film point out as being a quality performance.

Even with the bigger cast, it is often extremely difficult to maintain excitement and buzz for a franchise.  It is incredibly difficult to see box office numbers get bigger as a franchise goes along, and I can't see this being the case for the Furious films two outings in a row.  I expect that it will see a decent sized drop this weekend compared to the 2015 instalment, but it will by no means be a failure.  Universal is still going to see a lot of money come from this film, just not as much as perhaps they are hoping for.

The Fate of the Furious Opening Weekend Prediction: $125 million

That's about it for this weekend.  The other thing that will be interesting to see is if Beauty and the Beast will end up on top of The Boss Baby this weekend.  At this stage of their releases, I think that anything's possible, but I will be surprised if Beauty and the Beast manages to overcome The Boss Baby.  Out of the two films, it is the one that stands to lose the most audience members to The Fate of the Furious, with The Boss Baby having a younger demographic to lean into that won't be seeing this month's hottest movie.  I could be wrong, though.  It has happened once or twice before.

REVIEW: Kubo and the Two Strings

Brought to us from Laika studios, Kubo and the Two Strings is a stop motion animated family feature.  Laika specializes in stop motion, and from the visuals in Kubo, you can see that they are very good at what they do.  It does not take long for the viewer to get completely immersed in the world that is created, and it only gets better as the movie progresses.  This is also one of those special movies where seeing it in 3D actually makes a difference to the story telling.  So many 3D films are just as good in normal formats, but Kubo uses the technique to make the world and the story all the more magical.

The tale is about a young, one-eyed boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) who has an ability and power to create moving origami through the use of his guitar.  He is a story teller in the village square, hooking the residents to his every word, but never seems to know how a story should come to an end.  His life is turned upside down when he does not heed the words of his mother to get home before dark, and the truth of his past comes to track him down in the form of The Sisters (Rooney Mara).  They are his aunts, and they are after him at the command of Kubo's grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes) to take his remaining eye.

In one final act of protection, Kubo's mother uses the last of her magical abilities to send him far away.  She also transforms a monkey shaped magical charm into his protector, voiced by Charlize Theron.  Kubo must seek down a fabled set of armour to be able to protect himself from the Moon King and The Sisters.  Along the way, the come across a samurai beetle (Matthew McConaughey) who has had his memory wiped and is up for helping Kubo on his quest.

The story is a sweet one, as Kubo and his youth must face the grown up task that is set before him.  He has to rise above his age to be something that he is not, going from the teller of the stories to the main character.  His inability to know how a story must conclude is something that he must confront at the end of the film to find triumph and safety.

Much like Big Hero 6, this is an animated film that is not just good as a family film, but a good movie, period.  There is a lot of fun humour that comes from many different directions, such as gags, facials, and punch lines.  It also excels in its action sequences and brings a great deal of entertainment in choreographed battles.  The layout and story flow that happens through the action scenes surpasses the abilities of many main stream blockbusters.

The true heart of this film comes through in the voice acting.  It is genuine and sincere.  Art Parkinson embraces the character of Kubo and opens the door to invite the audience into his heart.  Theron and McConaughey have a chemistry between them that builds towards a relationship that appears true and time weathered.  Notably, Rooney Mara is chilling in her performance as The Sisters.

It is a beautiful movie.  The animation and the story itself create a world that the audience is a part of.  The magic seems real and has a flow to it.  The use of lighting is exceptional, as it assists in the telling of the story by bringing out the wonderful colours of the world as well as dimming things down to invite the darker aspects into the fold.

I do not simply recommend this film to families, but to everyone.  There is something neat about a story about story telling, and how real life needs story tellers to assist in the great feats of humanity.  It is a coming of age tale that has a note of resonance for all ages.  It is a very special kind of movie that doesn't come along that often.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

Deane's Pick: That Thing You Do!

When someone recommends a movie to be reviewed, it leaves me in a sticky situation.  I want to be honest about the movie, but at the same time I do not want to say anything bad about it.  Throughout the first twenty minutes of That Thing You Do I was trying to think of various ways to write how I was feeling, and different, yet sensitive, approaches to voicing the opinions that were building.  It was not awful, or anywhere close to that, it just was not anything that was connecting to me personally and I was not really enjoying it.

The movie is about four young men from a small town in Pennsylvania who play their one original song at a talent show with a replacement drummer.  The drummer messes up and speeds up the timing, and the band has no choice but to go with it.  What ends up happening is the crowd falls in love with what they hear, and the band (The Oneders, pronounced the oh-knee-ders) slowly begins to develop some local fame.  Before they know it, they have a manager who lives out of his awesome trailer and are getting more and more gigs.  It is only a short time before they are meeting record label manager Mr. White (Tom Hanks) who takes the band higher and higher as they start to ascend the billboard charts.

While I did not connect with the movie at first, it was the energy and the personalities of the boys in the band that started to win me over as their excitement and energy grew with their success.  The movie, which was written and directed by Hanks, accomplished its task of taking that raw buzz that was swirling around them as they were fish out of water in a musical landscape that was constantly changing before they were ever able to acclimatize themselves.  The tale really is about lightning in a bottle happening to people who are not in a space or prepared to deal with what it would bring, and the movie never attempts to make them look anything but mortal.

The casting in this film was done very well as the boys in the band all physically looked great for the kind of band that would have been promoted during that time, and they were all able to handle their roles properly.  It was nice seeing Steve Zahn, who always makes me laugh in movies, in his role as the excitable and gambling guitarist.  Liv Tyler, who played the girlfriend of the lead singer, plays her part in a sweet and innocent way that brings a sincere heart to the boys that are caught up in the whirlwind.  Tom Hanks does a great job of playing their manager in a way that people may think of the typical studio executive, spewing out honey coated sayings, but really just about the contract and the numbers at the end of the day.  As well, this movie lets us see some talent in the early goings of their careers like Charlize Theron and a very brief view of Bryan Cranston before he became famous for cooking meth.

The real key to the movie is the song that the band plays.  Essentially, they are a one-hit-wonder type of band on a meteoric rise and only really ever perform the one song, so it had to be perfect.  Adam Schlesinger ended up getting nominated for an Oscar for the song That Thing You Do, and it was ideal for this movie.  It really is amazing because you hear the song so many times throughout the film, and it never gets to the point of getting on your nerves or getting old.  There is so much believability to this tune and the chances it would have enchanting audiences that really gives this film wings,

It is far from a perfect film, and did have some elements that I found to be a bit abrasive.  Jimmy, the lead singer, had a very controlling personality that you know right from the beginning will lead to trouble down the road.  His descent towards being a jerk happens fairly sharply and seems rather jagged against the rest of the movie.  There was nothing natural about how it happened, and it really stood out to me as forcing the plot along instead of being a part of it.  Near the end of the movie, character traits of other members of the band were all of a sudden accelerated as well, which did nothing to help the flow of the film.

There are other things that I felt were miss-steps, many that I could list, but ultimately they are all inconsequential.  I had started writing a list of those things as I watched it, but eventually I succumbed to the charm of the boys, and their youthful enthusiasm.  I don’t think this movie was ever trying to be perfect, it was just trying to catch that emotion.  Well, it succeeded in its task and won me over as I was tapping my feet along to this story of good natured boys in a world they dreamed about but where not ready for or made fore.

Rating – 3 out of 4 stars