Title character Mad Max himself narrates the opening scene of 2015’s Fury Road, but why is this the only entry in the franchise to feature the lead character telling his story? Released in 1979, director George Miller’s original Mad Max was a stripped-back, sparse story of a troubled cop wreaking bloody revenge on a biker gang who killed his wife and child. The movie sees Mel Gibson’s eponymous antihero go from a bright-eyed rookie to a stone-cold killer throughout the action while in the background, the original Mad Max’s references to oil shortages predict both the future of the franchise and the real world alike.
However, despite the movie’s warnings of impending environmental doom and societal collapse, the original Mad Max is first and foremost a story of murder, mayhem, and revenge. Even the movie’s futuristic setting was originally down to Mad Max’s low budget meaning the filmmakers couldn’t afford a lot of locations. Later movies in the franchise, though, took these incidental themes and ran with them, portraying a dark and disturbing vision of the future after oil and water shortages caused the gradual downfall of civilization.
If that all sounds very grim, it is worth noting that the bleak future brings with it a whole lot of high-octane action in the world of Mad Max. The franchise features little dialogue in both Mad Max and Fury Road, an approach that lets the movies tell dark and brutal sci-fi action stories without being bogged down by exposition and dwelling on bleakness. However, there is one interesting exception to this almost wordless storytelling style. The opening moments of Fury Road feature a short monologue by Max himself wherein he outlines his past. The brief speech that Tom Hardy’s version of the character performs in the outing’s opening not only sets up the 2015 movie but also bridges the gap between franchise installments thematically and narratively.
Max’s Fury Road Voice-Over Retells the Original Movie
In storytelling terms, the purpose of Max’s Fury Road voice-over is obvious. The fast-paced thriller needs to establish the world it is set in and needs to do so fast, with Fury Road wasting no time getting into the thick of the action. As a result, the tragic tale of Max that once filled the action of an entire tense, slow movie is now compressed to a few sentences, unforgettable villains like Toecutter are forgotten, and the story is set up in an efficient manner that ensures newcomers to the franchise know who Max is and why he’s earned the titular sobriquet. Subtly enough, the short story he tells also clues cannier viewers familiar with the franchise into the film’s place in the series continuity, with Max telling the story of the original movie but not The Road Warrior or Beyond Thunderdome. This indicates, to those paying close attention at least, that despite his face changing from Mel Gibson’s to Tom Hardy’s, the Fury Road storyline is taking place between the first and second Mad Max movies in chronological terms.
However, this scene serves as more than a mere storytelling device. Sure, the slow-burn tension of the original Mad Max is reduced to two terse lines in this monologue, informing viewers of Max’s background while also cluing in those familiar with the character that this outing will be much more like the stripped-back sequel The Road Warrior. However, by contrasting Max’s story of losing his family and vocation with the clipped moments of news coverage talking about oil wars and subsequent water wars, Fury Road subtly makes his fate the fate of the world at large. This juxtaposition ensures that viewers understand both the man and his world are in pieces, making Max the perfect antihero for this chaotic, unhinged moment.
Max Only Voices His Story In Fury Road
The original Mad Max has no voiceover, functioning as a setup to the series and an origin story for its antihero. However, by its first sequel The Road Warrior, the narrator is no longer Max but rather the Feral Kid. This shift occurs because the character has transcended his status as a man and has become more of a symbol, a wandering drifter of mythic proportions, which also explains why The Road Warrior and subsequent sequel Beyond Thunderdome spend less screen time fleshing out Max’s motivations and character arc. By the time the action of these movies occurs, Max’s status as an almost-immortal figure is set in stone, whereas during the action of Mad Max, he is simply a normal man pushed past his limits. Thus, Fury Road gives him a voiceover to mark the last era when his story was his own and not, as it would be once he left Charlize Theron's Furiosa and company at the Citadel, the stuff of legends.
Why Furiosa’s Spinoff Doesn’t Need A Voiceover
Considering how pivotal Max’s short monologue is to setting up Fury Road and contextualizing its action, viewers might assume that Furiosa’s upcoming Fury Road spinoff should repeat the same trick. It is an economic and stylish way to establish a sympathetic but unhinged main character, after all, and allows viewers to care about Max having to dwell on retelling his familiar origin for more than a few moments. However, Furiosa’s story is an origin story more like Max’s first film, and as such should draw viewers in with action instead of a verbal explanation.
Fans of the franchise recently learned that, according to series creator George Miller, Furiosa will be the biggest Mad Max movie so far, and this increased scope gives the series a unique opportunity to dwell on the pre-apocalyptic world of the franchise in a way it hasn’t since the original movie. Relying on a voice-over to tell Furiosa’s story would sap her tale of tension (which is a particularly big problem for prequels anyway, since viewers already know that the principal protagonist is guaranteed to survive the movie’s action). As a result, despite Max’s lone Fury Road voice-over being pivotal to the movie’s success, Furiosa’s Mad Max spin-off doesn’t need the narrative trick to work as a follow-up film.