… that have nothing to do with how good the film actually is.
There are plenty of articles out there regarding the merits
of Mad Max: Fury Road, from the stunt
work and storytelling to the performances and direction. Most critics found the fourth installment of
the Mad Max series to be a refreshing
entry that, despite recasting the titular character, fits smoothly in director
George Miller’s fictional timeline, not really knowing exactly when the events
of this film happen in relation to the other three. On Rotten Tomatoes the film received a 97%
fresh rating, with the consensus being “with exhilarating action and a
surprising amount of narrative heft, Mad
Max: Fury Road brings George Miller’s post-apocalyptic franchise roaring
vigorously back to life.
This diatribe is not being written to also gush over the
film and provide an amateur analysis of what makes Mad Max: Fury Road so great.
Instead I will be explaining why I feel the Academy of Motion Pictures
Arts and Sciences needed to include this movie as a nominee for the Best
Picture category. Let’s look at three
reasons why I believe Mad Max: Fury Road
needed a Best Picture nomination in order to improve the Oscars.
#1. Expand its
horizons and don’t just nominate artsy dramas:
It should be stated from the beginning that I don’t think
the Academy should base their decisions of what the best movie, director,
actor/actress, writing, or any other aspect of filmmaking is simply to appease
television viewers. The award ceremony
isn’t for fans of film, but for those actually making the movies. It isn’t the Academy’s fault that we as a
civilization have deified Hollywood. Although the
ceremony wasn't initiated in order to celebrate the industry’s accomplishments and
recognize those who are best at their profession, it has morphed into that over the past eight decades. And during that time it has turned into one of the
biggest nights of the year for Hollywood in regard to marketing their films.
Mad Max: Fury Road
shouldn’t be included as a Best Picture nominee simply to increase TV ratings,
but for recognizing any well-made movie, no matter what genre it may fall
under. It shouldn’t matter whether a
movie happens to be considered science-fiction, slapstick comedy, slasher
horror, or sword and sorcery fantasy, if it has a compelling story, great
performances and other superb facets of what makes movies great then it should
be a legitimate candidate for any Academy Award category, including Best
Picture. Many have the impression,
probably rightfully so, that films considered part of an inferior genre don’t
stand a chance of being nominated for the most coveted award the Oscars can
give.
After 87 ceremonies it is clear that the Academy certainly
favors tear-jerking dramas and historical biopics, but it certainly hasn’t
excluded other genres. War films and
westerns occasionally will make it in the group, but even those are drama
heavy. Mad Max: Fury Road is the first film since 2009’s District 9 to be so action heavy and still
make the final cut of Best Picture nominees.
But there is something that Mad Max and District 9
have in common, and that leads us to the next reason.
#2. Social themes
that are explored through characterization:
The recent passing of Alan Rickman has brought to mind one
of the greatest villainous roles in film history, Hans Gruber. It’s not an opinion that Die Hard is one of the greatest action movies of all time. That’s just fact. But it is just that, a great action
film. While Die Hard did garner four Oscar nominations, all in technical
categories, it undoubtedly doesn’t deserve to be a Best Picture nominee. It is a straight-forward action popcorn
flick. There are a million action movies
just like it, although nowhere close to as thrilling.
When most directors and writers set out to make an action
blockbuster the motivation in doing so is financial. I’m not saying that they don’t want to make a
good movie, but underlying social themes aren’t really at the forefront of
their mind when figuring out how to get the hero in a shootout with the bad
guys while swinging from a helicopter and cradling a beauty in his arms. However, that is where George Miller is
different.
Mad Max: Fury Road
is a two-hour chase movie, but it is a two-hour chase movie that also includes
themes such as survival, cult worship, and female empowerment. In fact, the female empowerment subject is so
prevalent, many viewers felt the movie should have been renamed Mad Max:
Furiosa Road or simply Mad Furiosa.
It is the examination of these themes, along with others
from previous films in the series such as vengeance, solidarity, and redemption
that sets the Mad Max movies apart from other run-of-the-mill action/adventure flicks. If you were to explain the plot of Mad Max,
but omit the post-apocalyptic setting and over-the-top stunts, you might fool
someone into thinking you were describing what many people believe the Oscars
are all about, which is a small-budget indie art house film.
There aren’t a lot of action movies that if you stripped
away the violence and adrenaline you’d find subject material similar to dramas
like Thelma and Louise, Eyes Wide Shut, The Master, or this year’s Oscar nominee leader, The Revenant.
Did someone mention The
Revenant receiving the most nominations at this year’s ceremony? That is a great teaser for the next reason Mad Max: Fury Road deserved a Best
Picture nomination.
#3. Nominees by the
numbers:
Mad Max: Fury Road
received a total of 10 nominations, which is second most behind The Revenant’s 12. The remaining films in the Best Picture
category are The Martian (7 nominations),
Bridge of Spies (6), Spotlight (6), The Big Short (5), Room
(4), and Brooklyn (3). To receive nine nominations in categories ranging
from directing and cinematography to costume design and production design, as
well as the technical awards like sound editing, sound mixing, and visual
effects, but not receive the Best Film nomination would be a major oversight.
The movie to receive the most nominations and not be in the
Best Picture category is Carol, which
received a total of six nominations. It
is unfortunate for the producers, director, and cast of Carol to see films with half its nominations in the Best Picture
category. So if the Academy had excluded
Mad Max: Fury Road from the Best
Picture category simply because it didn’t fit the mold of a normal Best Picture
candidate like Carol, it would
probably have lost more credibility with moviegoers than actually including it. But again, the Academy shouldn’t base its
decisions on what we at home would like to see.
Every year people in the real media and on social media gripe about the Academy not recognizing movies the general public has actually seen. Nominating Mad Max: Fury Road for the best picture of the year is a step in the right direction of giving all movies, regardless of genre, a chance at the most coveted Oscar. If only the general public would take a step in the other direction by raising their standards in what movies they see and stop giving Michael Bay billions of dollars to keep making the same toy-truck-robot movie over and over again.