I know the other movies were what made Mad Max Mad Max, but the first movie was just a weird "child gets killed" revenge film, if I remember correctly?
Although I think most American viewers don't really know about it at all and only think of the second mad max film, which was marketed here without the 2? And almost all cultural references about "mad max" are about the road warrior vibe specifically, or thunder dome / fury road now.
It was only later revisions that added the dystopian future angle and made him a cop.
Then when Mad Max 2 came along it retconned the first movie as post-apocalyptic
Mad Max is big shoes to fill, and Fury Road managed it in a way that was so fresh I barely thought about the previous films. It truly stands alone and that's no easy feat. I do not find it derivative at all. If anything it pulled the franchise in a new direction.
Everything is just awesome. They made an awesome movie. The cars are awesome. The characters are awesome. The sounds and practical effects are awesome. The pace is awesome. It's just great stuff.
It surpasses mediocrity across all metrics. That's why it's more than "fine".
Take the main bad guy, Immortan Joe.
On one hand, he gate keeps access to water, he keeps sex slaves and he doesn't blink sending his War Boys to die.
On the other hand, there is nothing in the film pointing to there being a large reservoir of water, yet he does share some with the people around his citadel. He is also portrayed as quite sick and having only two surviving children: a deeply physically flawed one and a dimwit (and they made this one a pedo in the prequel). Maybe all he wanted was a sane and healthy offspring to eventually take over in running the community he built.
There is quite a bit more to talk about, like the war boy's arc, or the lack of gratuitous sexiness, or how Max is not that relevant for the entire story, but I believe this film works so well is because it gives so many opportunities to overthink things and that's always a fun thing to do.
I love Children of Men, I think its dark, prescient, moving and a fantastic technical achievement. Easily one of my top five movies.
I found myself nodding along with everything until I hit these lines:
> Many excellent movies are chase movies! The Terminator (1984) is a chase movie. Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959) is a chase movie. One of the greatest movies ever made (according to me), George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), is the purest distillation of a chase movie.
Why do people love Fury Road so much? I watched it in the cinema, and I enjoyed it. I thought it was very colorful, had great stunts, etc. A bit derivative of the second and third movie but whatever. George Miller has a format that seems to work. I was shocked when it was nominated for best picture. Best Picture! Years later I listened to a podcast on the making of it, and got a lot of insight into the struggle behind the scenes, and how difficult it was both on set and in pre-production. I had new found respect for everyone involved. I watched it again with new eyes, and... nope. It's fine. It's got some great set-pieces, but I just don't understand the hyperbole. It is, at best, the 3rd best Mad Max movie