Review by Jan Mangion
It’s Furiosa, not Furiousa!
George Miller may be 79 years old but that’s not stopping him from making more Mad Max movies. He returns to this universe, nine years after his last entry, Fury Road (2015) to direct Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
A prequel to the sensational Fury Road, this is the origin story of Imperator Furiosa before her encounter with Max. It spans over a 20-year journey when she is kidnapped from a young age and plots an act of vengeance against the warlord Dementus. All whilst struggling to survive in a desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland.
To start with the most pressing issue, this is not Fury Road 2.0 and to top it would take something special. With that being said, Furiosa rocks! This is a brilliant companion piece to Fury Road and it’s another breathtaking showcase of George Miller’s heavy metal filmmaking.
This film feels like keeping the same muscle car chassis but replacing it with a different and fresh engine. Action is constant, just like its predecessors and every set piece is nail-biting and jaw-dropping. The CGI and visuals may be noticeable in a few scenes but it is still a wonder to watch and do not detract you from the film itself. The gorgeous shots and framing of the desert landscape give the viewer all the more reason to watch it on IMAX.
Where Fury Road was full-on pedal to the metal, Furiosa allows more time to take a breather. The world-building is the main attraction here where the desert wasteland is reintroduced and expanded further with new characters in the mix. Furiosa’s journey is told in a layered approach across five chapters where we get to see her childhood, her hardships and resilience, and the allies and enemies she makes along the way. It’s sensible that the movie itself clocks in at 2.5 hours because Furiosa is a character that has goes through a lot, and the experience bears fruitful rewards.
Just like Tom Hardy, Anya Taylor Joy proves that a successful actor doesn’t solely rely on verbal interaction. She doesn’t have many lines to speak here but she commands the screen with her physical acting just from her eyes alone. This is another great performance from Anya and she did the character justice. Alya Browne who plays the younger version of the character also deserves a special shoutout as she takes charge in the movie’s first half and does so brilliantly. Chris Hemsworth takes antagonist duties as Dementus and smashes it out of the park. It’s one of the highlight performances of his career, and he is having the time of his life.
It’s such a shame that Furiosa is underperforming at the box office. This is a superb prequel, in a universe that keeps on delivering from a man that proves that age is just a number. A worthy successor to an already niche, but loved franchise.
Final Score: ✰✰✰✰1/2