The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and team-up with Mad Max.
Director George Miller returns with another entry in his Mad Max franchise with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” While Max himself is a passing thought in this film’s narrative, “Furiosa” still exhibits the trademarks that have made the franchise so popular since its debut in the late ’70s. Acting as a prequel to the last film in the series, 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Furiosa” follows the titular character’s life leading up to the events of “Fury Road.”
Beginning with Furiosa as a young girl (played by Alyla Browne), Miller quickly gets to the action. Furiosa is kidnapped from the Green Place (her goal in “Fury Road”) as her mother gives hot pursuit. The roar of the vehicles coming from the theater’s speakers is overwhelming, helping to create one of the most enveloping, active, and well-designed sound fields from recent memory.
Furiosa is taken to Dementus (a nearly unrecognizable Chris Hemsworth), who murders her mother as Furiosa watches and keeps her as his own daughter. Miller surprisingly stays with a young Furiosa for quite some time before moving the story forward to her becoming an adult, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Miller focuses more on world-building and exposition in this film, working to establish the characters and their locations for the audience. Between that and the mother/daughter relationship, the stakes feel higher in this film than in “Fury Road.” There’s more of a narrative drive to this movie, giving this film a more epic feeling.
Fans of the frenetic action of “Fury Road” should have no fear, “Furiosa” features its share of over-the-top action sequences shot with some excellently handled elaborate camera work. While it obviously has more CGI than the prior film, “Furiosa” still delivers the awe-inspiring stunt work that people have come to associate with the franchise. This movie screams to be seen in a premium format (Dolby, IMAX, etc.) to fully capture the scope of what Miller is presenting.
Following the glowing reviews from Cannes, I was pretty excited to see this movie. However, despite my own glowing comments, I don’t feel it entirely lives up to the hype. Yes, there is a lot of good going on here, but there are also some problems. Running nearly two and a half hours, “Furiosa” is on the bloated side. You will feel the film’s length in the final 45 minutes. I also found myself confused by some scenes. This I attribute to the dialogue being somewhat muddled and difficult to decipher. A rewatch would probably clear up any confusion and result in a higher score.
As it stands, after an initial viewing, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is definitely worth seeing in the theater. This type of action extravaganza is precisely what people imagine watching when you say the words “summer blockbuster.” I found this to be an improvement over “Fury Road” and think it’s safe to say, if you’re a fan of that one, you’ll also enjoy “Furiosa.”
In Theaters Friday, May 24th
