Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review
Brutal, mile-a-minute action takes us back to the wasteland in this gruesome, gory and grueling display from George Miller.
Stolen from her family by Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), Furiosa (Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy) finds herself mixed in amongst the great hoards. She grows up amongst violence and terror, always wanting to find her way home. As the Citadel begins to build a new war rig, and she finds an ally in Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), perhaps she has come to the moment to make a break for it; that is, if Dementus doesn’t catch her first.
Furiosa is a sort of mad cap, mile-a-minute adventure that never lets up throughout its runtime. It’s a sun-soaked fury of a movie, full of shocking violence, quirky character performances, a general vein of unseriousness mixed with high drama, and a non-stop, balls to the wall action sensibility that can’t be tamed.
Anchoring it all is Furiosa herself, who is jointly played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne. Both perform admirably in the role. Taylor-Joy’s more nuanced performance as the older Furiosa is key, but there was a palpable sense of loss when Browne transitioned out of the role midway through the movie, marking an understanding that her performance was one to thoroughly enjoy.
Much has been said of Hemsworth’s performance as the chaos loving Dr. Dementus, and he is certainly giving it a lot and swinging for the fences. Personally, there’s a little too much Hemsworth in there to feel the full dissociation from the character or from the actor’s oeuvre, but he is undoubtedly entertaining. Additionally, with the switch of actress for Furiosa midway through the film, he is the only real constant, and so feels like a much bigger role than perhaps he should.
The quest to destroy Dementus never really coalesces in the same way that Fury Road has such success with it’s strong goals. The eventual victory of Furiosa, leading straight into the beginning of that earlier Mad Max iteration, does feel a little unsatisfying because of that, but there are plenty of satisfying moments throughout. Ultimately, without a stronger arc, the film feels a little off balance throughout; but perhaps that is OK for a movie tackling these early years of complete chaos, where the grounds shift minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour.
Visually, this is once again an incredible feat. The 40 minute action sequence on the new war rig, with Tom Burke’s Praetorian Jack and Furiosa teaming up to fight off marauding bandits, is a thrill and blast. But perhaps there is a little too much CGI, a little too much ‘volume feel’ to the piece, when compared with it’s predecessors.
Furiosa is a fantastic film, but the problem with it is that it will always be compared to Miller’s previous work, and in particular the outstanding, era-defining piece of cinema that was Fury Road. Without Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, without those practical effects, and without the relative freshness of that concept, this world starts to feel a little stale. Perhaps it will never be fresh again. But that’s not to say it isn’t a thrilling ride. If you loved the previous iteration, you’ll probably love this one. And if you didn’t, this is different enough to perhaps draw you in for a second chance.
