Furiosa: a mad max saga
FURIOUSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
Directed by George Miller
"Do you have it in you to make it epic?"
By the time our main antagonist (Chris Hemsworth completely committed and off the leash) asks this of Furiosa, brilliantly played by Anya-Taylor Joy (taking over for Charlize Theron), we can feel the weight and impact of his words as our hero has fully formed into her final stage. Series creator and mastermind George Miller clearly took the message to heart as he unleashes this tale of revenge in the wasteland.
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA is technically the 5th entry in Miller's long running series that started almost 50 years ago. Less of a franchise and more of a fable, like a story you hear around a campfire. With each entry foregoing continuity and instead going for standalone features.
That's where FURIOSA differs, instead functioning as a direct prequel to 2015's game changing instant cult classic Oscar winning epic MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Here we follow a young Furiosa, first played by Alyla Browne doing exceptional work, as she is taken from her home by scavengers in a post apocalyptic Australia. What ensues is her journey home and the consuming revenge she must have against Hemsworth's truly evil Dementus.
Miller very smartly made the choice to not try and outdo FURY ROAD but instead beef up that films narrative while telling a very different story, divided into chapters. And this is still very much a MAD MAX movie with the absolute most insane car chases and stunts ever put to film. Audience complaints about "cartoony" CGI completely misses the point. Expand your horizons and open your mind to what a big budget blockbuster can be. After years and years of Marvel slop (some of which I eat up), we have something executed with such a singular madman gonzo vision. Literally no one does it like George Miller and that’s why he gets the blank check to make these insane masterpieces literally no one else is doing.
Poor box office returns almost definitely seals the deal in this being the last MAD MAX feature. So go ahead, you owe it to yourself to make it epic. One of the best movies of the year.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/4
