jokes and pedro pascal stanning aside,
as a film student and lover, his character in WW84 is one of the most well written anti-heroes (or just character in general) I’ve ever seen in film. Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham did a remarkable job in writing such a complex character with very real and relatable motivations.
Maxwell Lord is a man broken by a system that led him to a business which he had the illusion of being profitable but that ends up leaving him on the brick of ruin. On top of that he has the added pressure of wanting to look like a hero in the eyes of his son. If you’ve watched the film you know that his primary goal wasn’t to be the supreme lord of the world (or whatever he was trying to do) but to not look like a failure in front of his son.
Every time he is in the presence of his son Alastair, both characters have similar wishes - Max wants his son to be proud of him, and Alastair wants his dad to love him. This need for approval from both parts actually drives them away from each other as Max turns to the profit of his company because he thinks that being rich and successful is what’s going to make his son proud but actually ends up making him neglect his kid.
But he keeps thinking i need the oil and the money and the power and THEN I’ll be the most powerful man and he’ll be proud of me, EVERYONE will be proud of me and not regard me as a failure anymore. So, his wish to no longer be a failure turns into greed and greed turns into him being completely blinded by power.
He evolves from underdog (at the lack of a better word), to anti-hero, to villain (for the second to last part of his character arc) and then, after the climax of the film, he climbs down the ladder but no longer to the underdog position. He returns from his quest a transformed man that has a new perspective on life.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, in screenwriting theory is what we call THE HERO’S JOURNEY.
This man was supposed to be your common villain according to the trailer but Jenkins, Johns and Callaham deadass wrote him to be the hero of the film.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
prguitarman
gummygunk
areudirty
stormborns
