Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

For crying out loud, what do you want?

From criticism of Mad Max Fury Road for having too little story to its sequel for having too much. Make up your mind!

Each of the Mad Max films is different and an evolution from the last. Mad Max was the raw punk album. The Road Warrior was the more commercial, difficult to pull off second album. Thunderdome was the more accessible but toned-down third album that forces the band into a hiatus. Fury Road is the lauded reunion album with the new lead singer. Furiosa is the experimental album and the accumulation of everything so far into an epic opera.

Both actresses playing Furiosa are perfectly cast, the younger particularly. The surrounding characters are as grotesque and over-the-top as you would expect from this series. The acting likewise. These films are never subtle and that is part of their appeal. The design is as magnificent as the world-building, and its look is (for the most part) superb. I adore the colour palette. The music may not be quite as memorable as Fury Road, but certainly was not a distraction.

Now, the action may not have the same kinetic energy or frenetic insanity as Fury Road, but the nature of the story does not lend itself to this. The story spans many years and is episodic by design. It is an origin story rather than a road movie. Perhaps the more obvious and extensive use of CGI distracts slightly from the physicality of the action sequences but they are no less epic.

Suffice to say, I loved it. I appreciated the differences between Furiosa and Fury Road as much as its evolution within the same universe. I will take any offer of further time in Max and Furiosa's apocalypse on the condition that Miller either directs or has a hand in its development.

And yes, Furiosa IS a Mad Max movie and, contrary to some reviews here, Max does appear in the film, albeit fleetingly.

Furiosa is not Fury Road and is all the better for it. They are both remarkable works of movie art in their own right in my opinion.

More please.

It would be folly to try and outdo Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is smart enough to not even attempt that. It's a completely different film in its structure which allows it to be a prequel that tells a complete story on its own whilst still enhancing Fury Road with its world building. The fact that George Miller is still telling stories in the wasteland at this scale is a real gift.

Alyla Brown gets a lot more screen time than child versions of pre-established characters usually get and with next to no dialogue she is superb at communicating everything without words. Carrying that on for the second half, Anya Taylor-Joy does a phenomenal job and was right to fight to keep the scream in. If you need someone to act exclusively with their eyes, she is as perfect as they come.

Chris Hemsworth is clearly relishing the opportunity to play a properly mad villain with Dementus and has so many chill inducing moments. This is easily the best he's been so far, completely unhinged with just enough depth to explain everything he does. He's a complicated figure who always seeks power but is never able to truly hold onto it.

George Miller truly is a genius when it comes to exploring this franchise. Getting to see a fully realised Gas Town and Bullet Farm allows this world to cohere like never before and the action crafted here is so epic with gorgeous imagery that refuses to slow down. Just like John Seale achieved last time, Simon Duggans's cinematography can keep the action clean no matter what's thrown at it.

It makes sense that the only way Tom Holkenborg could come close to his best work on Fury Road was to return to the wasteland and his score here continues to compliment the kineticism of the action so well. The only downside is the CGI which looks pretty bad at various points and stands out further because of how well Fury Road implemented it.

Furiosa would be easier to watch if Fury Road never happened. After the incredible cinematography magic that genius John Seale weaved, Furiosa felt just like some lacklustre adaptation of a far superior source material.

Only thing I found charming was the overall 80's feel, resembling the style of a Road Warrior, and some scenes feel like they were recreated straight from the original trilogy. While action sequences are, as expected, top notch, the epic sense of awe and sheer crazy excitement that ludicrous stunts and choreography brought us in Fury Road was lacking. Editing was sometimes atrocious. Even in the best action or "poignant" scenes this movie had to offer, I never felt that I'm watching it from the edge of my seat, nor did I get emotionally involved with any of characters.

Speaking of which, acting was fairly wooden, lines declamatory delivered, the script overall seemed recycled and overly done, bordering on boring. Storytelling was chaotic, rushed and dragged at the same time. Sometimes the unnecessary narrator helped things to move along, unfortunately in a bad way.

But the major flaw was that there was no hero's journey for any of characters. Furiosa is the same person at the beginning as she is at the end of a movie, same as Dementus. Remember Nux and his journey? There is nothing like it in Furiosa. Furthermore, Furiosa endures every hardship with the same fierce look in her eyes - we never see pain, never fear, never doubt. She shrugs any injury off, like a terminator. It was hard to get emotionally involved with her character. Unfortunately, she came across as a classic girl boss, amazing in everything she does from the start to the finish, as a kid, and as an adult. Relationship between Furiosa and Praetorian Jack is so robotic and unemotional it's painful to watch. Dementus's monologue at the end was a snoozefest. All in all, I witnessed it, and found it mediocre.

I had hopes for more action and crazy stunts. Less CGI and a more solid story.

Instead I got bored, there was 10x more dialog.

The story on how Furiosa escaped was full of holes (a cult desperate for young healthy woman completely looking past her for years on end??).

Dementus was a glorified comedian and someone you could not take seriously. They couldn't even use the same voice effects for Immortan Joe as the 1st movie so he sounded like a small boy.

The 30 day war was a 10 second nothing.

It's a good movie but no way contends with the action scenes and stunts from fury road. It missed that action movie, edge of your seat vibe.

I witnessed it and It did not ride through the gates of Valhalla shiny and chrome.

I feel many go into Furiosa expecting a Mad max movie, and at its core it is so much different. With its predecessor being Fury road, Furiosa had a very high bar to achieve. However, these 2 movies are so different, while they may seem similar they are completely different action movies. Furiosa takes on a much more different aesthetic with the use of slightly more darker and less vibrant colors, a much different protagonist, and a more complex story. The use of cgi is pretty disappointing, if you have a keen eye you can pretty easily the digital doubles and green screen. Anya Taylor-Joy gives an absolutely amazing performance. Dare I say she is better than Charlize Theron in Fury Road? Absolutely! Chris Hemsworth was also great and hilarious. Furiosa, while it may have many flaws, is one of the best action movies to come out in recent times, and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves. Furiosa is in no ways perfect, but do I love it? Yes.