One sign of a well-written plot are setups and payoffs, and callbacks. MM:FR has a LOT of them. A personal favorite: Max as a source of blood: * The setup is when he forced to be a 'blood bag' for Nux. The photo in today's post depicts how he has no choice over the matter. * The payoff occurs at the very end of the Final Struggle in which this happens: "On the way back to the Citadel, Furiosa’s lungs nearly collapse. Max punctures a hole in her side to give her air. She starts to lose consciousness, and Max starts to give her a blood transfusion. He tells her his name as she closes her eyes." Here he CHOOSES to give his blood. A wonderful symmetry there and a sign of Max's growth, moving from hardened loner to someone willing to sacrifice something of himself to save another person's life. Also note the whole not-giving-Furiosa-his-name bit which also gets paid off in this scene. Symbolically by telling her his name, he is saying she is worthy to be his friend. What other setups & payoffs, and callbacks did you notice in the movie? Any other comments about the plot and story structure, feel free to weigh in.

Another lovely setup & payoff: When Nux is still on the side of Immortan Joe, he sees another War Boy fall, mortally wounded and bristling with arrows like St. Sebastian; under his breath, Nux urges, "Get up, get up," and we see his own capacity for determination and hope, as the fallen one struggles back to his feet, shouts, "Witness me!" to the others, and sacrifices himself. The wonderful symmetry in this scene's payoff comes when Nux, now fighting for Furiosa, Max, and the Wives in the hope of a better future, likewise sacrifices himself for his new cause, murmuring, "Witness me," having subverted this phrase's meaning here as well. (Thank you for doing this analysis, Scott - such a terrific movie!)

I like it when a script takes care of seemingly minor details. Like, when it's planted that Mad Max isn't just a blood bag, he's Type O, which makes him a universal donor. So when Mad-Max-as-blood-bag is paid off, it's entirely credible that he could rescue Furiosa with a transfusion. And Furiosa having a prosthetic[left] arm made me think of Luke Skywalker who gets a prosthetic [right] hand. Hearkening to the mythological notion of the sacrifice, the physical toll the Hero must pay in fulfilling his/her quest.

To slightly paraphrase the great Russian playwright Anton Chekhov: if you introduce a gun onstage in the 1st act, it better go off by the end of the 3rd. Having introduced Furiosa with such a strong and unusual visual prop, a prosthetic left hand, Miller pays it off with a scene where it is absolutely critical to the outcome of the story, the survival of Mad Max. She’s holding Max upside down by the foot as he's dragged along the ground at high speed with his head inches away from a rotating spike tire. And then it malfunctions. (Oh, and she's also got dagger in her midriff.)

Based on yesterday's plot summary: -Max chased through the desert by the War Boys, crashes and is captured. -Max taken to the Citadel, tattooed as a universal donor. He attempts to escape but is captured. -Immortan Joe controls the Citadel, sends Imperator Furiosa to collect gasoline from Gas Town. -Furiosa diverts from the road, sneaking the Five Wives in the tanker. -Immortan sends the War Boys after Furiosa. One of them, Nux is using Max as a blood bag. -The War Boys chase Furiosa. She drives toward a huge sand storm, Nux follows. -Max awakens, meets the Five Wives and Furiosa. He tries to escape alone in the tanker but a killswitch forces him to bring Furiosa and the Wives with him. Nux sneaks on board, Immortan Joe approaches with reinforcements. -Passing the canyon guarded by the Biker Bandits and chased by the Wild Boys. Anghard dies. -Nux promises to help the Five Wives escape to The Green Place. -The tanker gets stuck in the mud, Furiosa blinds the Bullet Farmer. -Furiosa and the Wives try to get the tanker out of the mud while Max goes to face the Bullet Farmer, returns with supplies and ammo. -Furiosa, Max and the Wives meet the Vuvalini. Furiosa finds out the Green Place was the swamp they passed through. Max and Furiosa part ways. -Max stops the women, tells them of his plan to take the Citadel, trap Immortan Joe and the Wild Boys in the canyon. -The Wild Boys chase Max and the woman back to the Citadel. Casualties from both sides. Toast captured by Joe. Furiosa impaled. Immortan Joe killed. Nux sacrifices himself to save the women destroying Immortan Joe's army. -Max voluntarily serves as a blood bag for Furiosa to save her life. He tells her his name. -Max and the surviving women arrive to the Citadel, show Immortan Joe's corpse. Furiosa becomes the new leader, Max slips away.

Re: Plot and story structure. I find it interesting that the first sequences set up Max apparently as the protagonist and main character, just to have him captured a little later. Once he's captured we are shown his internal problem and then he is incapacitated, tied so he can't do anything. About ten minutes or maybe more into the film, we get to know the real plot of the film: saving the wives. And get to know the real protagonist: Furiosa. And during the first and very exciting chase, Max is mostly a spectator, tied or trying to survive. What's interesting is that Furiosa's goal (get the wives to the Green Place) becomes the driving force, Max a reluctant helper. But then when they find out the Green Place disappeared, Max's goal (his plan to take over the Citadel) becomes the plot driver. Now Furiosa is the helper. (Although you could argue that it is an extension of Furiosa's plan to save the Wives) And, against many movie conventions, once they achieve the goal Max and Furiosa split. No romantic love, not even buddy love. They split on amicable terms, but they follow their own path.

Paul, good note re Type O blood as that does make that beat at the end with Furiosa credible. Again attention to detail. Filmmakers who care about the TOTALITY of the story. Some filmmakers might have used the prosthetic arm simply as a prop. Not Miller. As you note, it has symbolic power - sacrifice - and I drew a connection to Luke Skywalker as well, so there is that cultural echo to add heft to the character. But beyond that, as you note in a later comment, the arm has actual plot relevance in saving Max's life. Definitely an example of setup and payoff. As I said earlier, lots of examples like that. And those are so satisfying when done well because they serve as markers for the audience to track the plot, they also help us to measure characters in terms of their transformation, etc.

Melanie, that is an excellent example of a callback line -- "Witness me" -- and as you say subverts the original meaning: instead of a sacrifice on behalf of Immortan Joe, Nux rounds off his personal transformation by sacrificing himself for the Wives, specifically the one with whom he had bonded (red head, forget her name). In fact, Nux is a fantastic character, one of the most interesting in terms of his psychological journey. Will hit on that in tomorrow's discussion on characters. Thanks, Melanie! Great catch and glad you enjoyed the movie!

Nice stab at a sequence breakdown, Alejandro. Highlights a clear Act One break: -Furiosa diverts from the road, sneaking the Five Wives in the tanker. -Immortan sends the War Boys after Furiosa. One of them, Nux is using Max as a blood bag. And Act Two break: -Furiosa, Max and the Wives meet the Vuvalini. Furiosa finds out the Green Place was the swamp they passed through. Max and Furiosa part ways. Three Act structure: Separation. Initiation. Return. Thanks for the breakdown, Alejandro!

Great take, Alejandro, one that drives home a point I make often: Story is organic. Even character functions -- who is the Protagonist -- are fluid. I think you are right: We're set up to think that Max is the Protagonist. But then for much of the story, he is, as you say, a "reluctant helper". It is Furiosa goal - get the wives to the Green Place - that creates the spine of the central plot. So does this mean she becomes the story's Protagonist? Are she and Max Co-Protagonists? Or dual Protagonists? At the end of the day, it's semantics. I do think the five primary character archetypes -- Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster -- prove to be helpful analytical tools which we can get into tomorrow. Regardless of who is or isn't the Protagonist, the last point you spotlight is one of the more interesting dynamics in the movie: The nature of the relationship between Max and Furiosa. I guarantee you if this movie were made under the direct aegis of a Hollywood studio, where they were calling more of the shots, there would have been a big push to make this a romance relationship, even if oblique. The fact Miller and crew played the dynamic the way they did is wonderful BECAUSE they didn't go the conventional route. There's also this: The filmmakers RESPECTED the core nature of both Max and Furiosa. They are tough individualists. It's absurd to think that amidst the chaos they experience in such a compressed fashion they would become lovers. They are equals. They become temporary allies. They accomplish something remarkable together. Leave it at that. To me, the ending where Max departs and they have that wordless exchange is pitch perfect. That's the thing about conventions: Sometimes they work in a story when you play TO them. Other times they work when you play AGAINST them. We should feel free to explore the latter and not be constrained by the former. Thanks, Alejandro!

>>>And, against many movie conventions It's the reboot of a franchise. The story ends not with a period, not with an exclamation but with a question mark. The future is left wide open. What will become of their relationship? What will happen next? Stay tuned for the next chapter... and the next... like the weekly serials of old.

We can only hope for more chapters! And that Charlize Theron, who has suggested she has mixed feelings about reprising her role due to the exhausting production requirements, will sign up. She rocks as Furiosa!

Maybe it's too theoretical, but what if the purpose of Max and Furiosa is to split the Protagonist & Hero. (which term serves which definition seems always up for debate) So this would mean that Max is the "one who changes" whilst Furiosa (literally) drives the story. Then it is only once Max has changed that he becomes able to take over some story driving duties. A two hander in the sense that 'Dead Poet's Society' or 'Shawshank Redemption' are.

On the ending: In the cinema I remember feeling that the return to the Citadel was anti-climactic because Max and co. didn't face any resistance and yet it would seem like the biggest challenge to overcome the ideology so imbedded in the Citadel dwellers (like Nux's martyristic tendencies were overcome but it took most of the film and he was already singled out as different). However, in thinking about it, I wonder if Miller reasons that the "Immort" part of "Immortan Joe" implies a myth of immortality, and certainly he seems as though he has been keeping himself alive a fair while; then, on witnessing his death, the Citadel realises Joe's lie (and therefore the lie of Valhalla and what they are fighting for) and so they choose not to put up any resistance?

Jacob, interesting point. both times i saw it with different people, and both times they had the same reaction on seeing Furiosa brought up and the milk-mothers showering the canyon dwellers with the water... "This is going to end badly". i think there was an interesting point being made - "living" in an insane society is not worth it. Even if you will end badly, its better to behave with humanity. its a choice that is made a number of times. Even if you are "surviving" or "prospering". Note Imperator Furiosa is someone of great importance - she is the leader of the critical mission, she is trusted. The Wives are living in luxury, and one of them even wants to go back at times. But all of them realise that they have to break away somehow - even with only the dim memory and little to no real hope of success, its better to try. So the ending - destroying the idol and certerpiece of the religion, giving away the precious water and letting the diseased and dying into the highly limited safe living space... its going to end badly. But it is important to do!

George Miller does set-ups and payoffs better than almost anybody, with the possible exception of James Cameron, and I think it's because both of them do something that few other filmmakers do: They set something up once, then pay it off multiple times. The best example of this in Cameron's work is the power loader in ALIENS. First mention: dialogue, between Ripley and Burke, that she's been working in the docks. Second mention: we see the power loader, and Ripley tells Apone she can drive one, then does. The scene builds the character up. Mission accomplished. So as an audience member, you forget about the power loader. You're not looking for the payoff anymore. When the power loader comes back at the end and Ripley uses it to fight the Alien Queen, it's a great callback and it works as a surprise, because you're not expecting that shoe to drop again. The problem with a lot of movie set-ups and payoffs is that you recognize the set-up as a set-up, and then you're waiting for the payoff. FURY ROAD has a lot of camouflaged set-ups and multiple pay-offs. Max's universal donor status is a great example of a set-up, and one reason it works so well is that it doesn't look like a set-up. It looks like an excuse to get Max into the chase. But look at how it works: 1) Max gets a universal donor tattoo. (Set-up) 2) Dialogue states that Max is a universal donor, and that he is used to top up sick Warboys. (Reinforces Set-up) 3) Nux wants to get into the chase, so takes Max out. (Pay-off) 4) Max gives blood to Furiosa (Second Pay-off!) Oh, yeah: #2 and #3 set up the fact that Nux and many warboys are sick, which is paid off twice with A) Nux's scene with Capable and B) the citadel being undefended at the end. These scenes are doing multiple things at once. Another example: the bolt cutters. Set-up: they cut off the chastity belts. Pay-off: Max uses them to get free. Second pay-off: they're used to cut the harpoon chains. Symbolic of liberation, to boot. A lot of movies set stuff up, pay it off once, and then throw it away. FURY ROAD keeps using and reusing everything it's got. Even if you spot Miller's set-up for a set-up, and you're waiting for the other shoe to drop, you're suckered because he's dropped one left boot and he's got a bunch of right boots up there.

What I really loved about this movie was the constant.. momentum (?) Not sure that is the word I am looking for. Everything in the plot is in motion. Even in the very few times when the main focus is on still characters, you can still see the movement of threats approaching in the background. There are never just scenes of people sitting and talking, we never get a chance to breath and consider, but the plot is constantly pushing us, threatening the characters. I think it feeds into the themes (stagnation and imprisonment = bad) but every time you see the characters actually motionless on the screen, they are in worse trouble than ever (truck overheating, stuck in the mud, trapped by the endless desert etc) They are themselves always trying to keep moving - even the warboys are enamoured of speed and movement. Just a lovely thing for a chase movie.

Jacob and Kenny, I interpreted that ending pretty much the same way that what happens when Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Like you say Jacob, in providing proof Immortan Joe is NOT immortal, indeed is dead, the entire foundation of the cult-like society crumbles. And what's great about that beat is instead of returning to make some sort of speech to rally the troops, they just flop the body onto the ground. Whomp! Visual storytelling! Good analysis!

Jacob, I think you can make the argument this is a kind of Dual Protagonist story which eventually becomes a Co-Protagonist dynamic. That is two separate storylines (Dual P) intersect then eventually become allies (Co-P). Whatever it is, it's an interest pivot, and the pair kind of pass the baton of who's driving - sometimes quite literally - as they evolve in their relationship.