Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Make it epic
Directed by George Miller
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Lachy Hulme, Tom Burke
7.5/10
After a near-decade-long wait, the new Mad Max movie (a prequel to the acclaimed Fury Road) is finally out. The action is still balls to the wall, and although more CGI makes the action less exciting than in Fury Road, it’s the scope of Furiosa that makes it a better film.
Beginning when Furiosa is just a young girl (Alyla Browne), she is taken from her homeland and brought to Biker warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). While trying to find where she comes from, they are led instead to the Citadel, run by Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). As Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) ages, she finds herself caught between the two men and the two post-apocalyptic districts they compete to rule. On one mission to escape, she teams up with truck driver Jack (Tom Burke) to enact her revenge against what Dementus brought upon her family.
As you can see here, there’s much more to the story and lore in this film than previous entries, with all sorts of conflicts between different leaders and territories competing with each other rather than just the back-and-forth chase of Fury Road. Furiosa may be a better film than Fury Road with a better story, but it doesn’t have better action. Even though the action may be more varied, taking place across different landscapes with different battlegrounds, this film does feature more unwelcome CG moments in the action that can be unfortunately obvious and therefore disengaging.
But even more than Fury Road, there’s still an incredible, consistent style on screen that’s certainly not seen in other blockbusters. The ugliness and putridness of the decrepit characters, the industrial landscapes, and the mechanical nature of the battles all really add to this post-apocalyptic vision that feels like it’s stuck in the late ‘70s, with beefed-up vehicles like buggies, bikes, and trucks banging into each other and blowing up. It can all bring a smile to your face, even make you laugh, with the unashamed ridiculousness of it all, particularly as they’re driven by folks with the most intense of Aussie accents.
As for the characters, it’s clear that George Miller has more interest in his villains than heroes. Anya Taylor-Joy does a fine enough job, taking over Charlize Theron’s role from Fury Road, though quite a lot of the film doesn’t require her, or many other of the very few hero characters, to really do much aside from stare intently and vengefully. But the villains get much beefier roles to chew on, and there’s plenty of them—among all the bikers and war boys, there are the grotesque mutant-looking atrocities who assist with their leaders.
The MVP of the cast is certainly Chris Hemsworth. Although he doesn’t have an outstanding resume of great performances (as he tends to let his good looks do the acting), this is his best performance, a committed, enjoyable, and often fun role that he relishes in. He doesn’t overdo it, but he delights in his mischievous and villainous demeanour, all the while holding a trauma to match that of Furiosa.
Although Furiosa may ultimately be typical meat and potatoes blockbuster material, it is peppered and seasoned with a grotesque Australian sensibility that makes it stand out among other tent-pole actioners.
DAVID MORGAN-BROWN