Rating: «««
out of ««««
Running Time: 148 minutes
This film from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at movie theaters on Friday, May 24.
Back in 1979, director George Miller created Mad Max, a dynamic little Australian action picture produced for well under $1 million. While the film became a massive success and went on to gross more than $100 million worldwide, even the filmmaker probably wouldn’t have anticipated creating several more hits based on this property. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel and spin-off marking the fifth chapter in the series arriving some 45 years after the first picture.
For this reviewer, it rarely seems necessary to create a prequel that fills in background details about events that have already been depicted. However, for this picture one can make an exception. While it doesn’t quite match all of its predecessors and features more CGI than prior installments, the storytelling on display is still remarkable. The film delivers more thrills than it has any right to and delivers pulse-pounding entertainment throughout.
Based around a character introduced in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, this prequel begins not long after the world has become a wasteland devastated by war. A young child named Furiosa (Alyla Browne) lives in a hidden community that still has trees and farmable land. When invaders violently abduct the child and take her to their barbaric leader Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), she is forced to do anything she can to survive within this group of marauders.
In the meantime, Dementus aims to become a more powerful figure, ultimately making a deal with Citadel head Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) that sees him promoted to leader of GasTown. Years later, a still traumatized but fierce and grown-up Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) yearns to return home and enact retribution on Dementus.
A great deal of the first half of the picture involves the mostly mute child Furiosa taking in the inhumanity surrounding her. Despite the very young age of the actress playing her, there’s plenty of trauma and fury visible in her wide eyes. Taylor-Joy does an admirable job of portraying a 20-something version of Furiosa, handling the intense physicality of the part and displaying her damaged frame of mind exceptionally well.
As villains go, Hemsworth also makes for a very memorable foe. There’s a lot of meat on the bones of Dementus. He’s an egotistical psychopath who falsely believes he is cleverer than he actually is, leading to some darkly humorous comments. Miller wisely chooses to imply a grim past for the character as well, allowing him the opportunity to deliver a notable monologue about revenge and its inevitable failure to heal deep psychological wounds.
A good portion of the first half is also used to detail the politics involved in this savage world. This normally would be the type of thing that I would bemoan and it does result in a slower pace, but the material is quite interesting as presented. Earlier films detail a few moments behind-the-scenes with tyrannical leaders and present many of the roving gang members as faceless outlaws, but this picture shows more about these societies and the relationships between comrades (often peppered with gallows humor). And for viewers familiar with the series, there are several notable nods not just to Fury Road, but to other films and individuals.
As expected, the action is, once-again, first rate. It is noticeable that digital effects are being used more liberally here (no doubt because much of it in early sections involves a child performer, and later bits include elaborate wasteland settings). However, this isn’t too much of a distraction. The camera angles are always creative, with plenty of wild moves during long takes. The geography is very clear and the dangerous situations the characters find themselves in are consistently exciting to witness. There are a couple of absolutely fantastic bits involving a tanker that are incredible to witness.
So, there is more digital trickery in this effort and the film doesn’t move as breathlessly as a couple of other features from the series. However, the story is more engaging than anticipated and there is a great deal of phenomenal action and interesting interplay to enjoy. This unexpected franchise is surely now among the greatest in cinema and few could expect a fifth movie/prequel to be this engaging.
While it can’t quite beat the perfection of Mad Max 2 aka The Road Warrior or Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga does outdo others in its series and is something of a marvel. If Miller wants to continue hurtling down the road in his 80s with another chapter, this critic is more than willing to take yet another ride.
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By Glenn Kay
For the Sun
