Film Review - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
George Miller's Mad Max spin-off is a triumph of epic action cinema with a dark fairy tale twist
Although George Miller’s latest entry in the Mad Max universe is absolutely and emphatically cut from the same brutal cloth as its action-packed predecessors, I give full credit to the near octogenarian director for trying something different. For all its dystopian sci-fi action trappings, what Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga most feels like is a fairy tale. An extremely dark and violent fairy tale, but a fairy tale, nonetheless, right down to the cryptic five chapter headings, and the occasional narration of “The History Man” (George Shevtsov).
The titular Furiosa, first seen as a hugely memorable supporting character in Mad Max Fury Road (2015) to the point that she felt like the main character, here gets the epic prequel treatment. This, by the way, is how you do a prequel, George. (No, not this George. The one responsible for a certain space fantasy with a stellar prefix.) Anyway, we first meet Furiosa as a child, when she’s abducted by raiders in the green place and driven by bikers into the desert. Her mother (Charlee Fraser) heads out in hot pursuit; the first of many edge-of-the-seat set pieces. Obviously, we already know that doesn’t end well.
Miller and co-writer Nick Lathouris then boldly uses the child Furiosa (Alyla Browne) as the main character for at least the first hour of the picture, as she witnesses brutality at the hand of her, well, demented captor Dr Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Overly ambitious, overconfident, and occasionally inept, Dementus and his gang want to overthrow Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), the villain from Fury Road. Years pass but caught in the middle of all this is Furiosa. She makes strategic alliances, runs away, changes her identity, and — amid a truly magnificent central action sequence — proves her mettle to Immortan Joe’s war rig driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke, looking a bit like Simon Le Bon in Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” video). At this point, the grown-up Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) seamlessly comes to the fore for the remainder of the film, glaring out of the screen with wide eyes set into a grime-covered face.
Praetorian Jack takes her under his wing, and soon she’s driving the war rig too. But whilst war ensues between Immortan Joe and Dementus, Furiosa nurses her desire for vengeance. What follows isn’t memorable so much for what happens, but for how it happens. Yes, there’s a metric ton of action, with the veritable melee of tanker hijacking, pole-vaulting, paramotoring, motorbike jumping, machine-gunning, flame-throwing, pedal-to-the-metal explosive thrills you’d expect in a Mad Max film. But the focus of Furiosa’s character journey feels like something out of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey mythology, right down to the you-can’t-destroy-something-without-becoming-it final showdown.
I admire Miller’s boldness here. Unlike Fury Road, the film’s conflicts gradually shrink rather than build, until we’re down to two figures in the wilderness in a primal, hugely effective blunt instrument confrontation that again harkens back to dark fairy tale in how matters are resolved. Miller also channels his inner David Lean here, with epic desert vistas that occasionally recall Lawrence of Arabia (1962) blended with the cult B-movie roots that made the original three Mad Max films so startling.
Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy are both superb in the lead, especially considering they have barely any dialogue between them. The character arc, from wronged innocent to scheming survivor and terrifying avenging angel is completely convincing. In the supporting cast, Burke is a particular highlight, striking just the right note of reluctant heroism and tragic stoicism. As for Chris Hemsworth, he imbues his deranged, murderous character with hints of humanity, buried far beneath all the pompous psychopathic lunacy.
The only nit I can pick is that I don’t think Miller should have interspersed snippets of Fury Road in between end credits, as it spoils that film for anyone who hasn’t seen it, and rather ruins the closure of this one. Yes, the final scene is a direct lead-in to Fury Road, but we didn’t need the point rammed home, and this film is fully satisfying in and of itself. As my youngest son pointed out, it’s like having clips of the Death Star battle in Star Wars (1977) interspersed with the end credits of Rogue One (2016). That minor misjudgement aside, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is nothing less than a must-see at the cinema for action fans, ideally on the biggest screen you can find.
(Originally published at Medium.)
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If Miller is trying to expand the Mad Max universe, the prequel approach is probably best.
Been waiting for this one with ATJ and my bf Hemsy! Great review as usual Emperor and I for one will enjoy seeing the snippets of Fury Road interspersed in the end credits, as that was my fave movie from that year :) But then again I also like whenever they do "hey here's a montage of the real people" at the end of a biopic :D