Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review


Graham Craycraft

 

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the latest project for the Mad Max franchise and the first that does not feature Max Rockatansky as the central character. George Miller continues his impressive world building with this fifth edition into the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland.

 

Furiosa (the titular character for this film) is the secondary protagonist of 2015’s Mad Max Fury Road which was both a box office and critical smash. Played by Charlize Theron in 2015, this prequel sees Anya Taylor-Joy take the reins. From a young girl Furiosa grows up under the grueling regime of the Wasteland as a slave to later become the imperator of Immortan Joe in Fury Road. We see some returning figures such as Immortan Joe and his half-life war boys, but we are introduced to a new villain Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, and his gang of marauders.

 

Hemsworth and Taylor-Joy both kill their performances. Hemsworth is cruel, funny, and destructive. Taylor-Joy does a wonderful job at capturing a young Furiosa as well as matching Theron in Fury Road. This is no easy feat and it concerned me especially given this is less than a decade separated from each movie’s release so Theron’s performance is fresh in my mind. Praetorian Jack (played by Tom Burke) is also introduced as one of Immortan Joe’s imperators who then teaches Furiosa all she needs to know about war, machines, and living with a temperance of skepticism and hope.

 

George Miller delivers again with a spectacular film. It is visually stunning and emotionally charged. Fans of the 2015 Fury Road will find many of the aspects they love. There are the continued themes of hope and desperation. The composer, costume design, and editor (Miller’s wife) all return. Each scene is an example of finding beauty in brutality. Those who found themselves desiring more of a concrete storyline with dialogue will potentially enjoy Furiosa more than Fury Road. Furiosa has more dialogue as well as being both more lighthearted and more savage- an odd combination that mimics life. As Dementus puts it (although I cannot find the quote since the movie is too new) life in the Wasteland is brief moments of joy followed by being ripped back down into pain and torment. Often and for many of us this is how life can seem. Not as visceral as the world of Mad Max but we are all searching for joy, for our better selves in this wild wasteland.

 

90/100

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