May 27, 2024 · Watch the official trailer
Is it possible to reduce or dampen the quality of a film’s legacy by adding onto it?
Filmmakers have historically been prone to re-releasing movies with director’s cuts, extended editions or, more often, expanding their world with prequels, sequels, and offshoot television franchises in order to capitalize on audiences’ perceive desire to see even more.
George Miller, who unquestionably made one of the best action films this century with 2015’s Academy Award winning “Mad Max: Fury Road,” seeks to double-dip in much the same way with his origin tale “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” hoping to recapture the magic of the prior film almost a decade later with exceptional visual and cinematic artistry, captivating and practical special effects, and compelling lead performances.
What actually occurs, however, is somewhat of a slog to get through as viewers either need to have seen “Fury Road” recently or be particularly engaged in nuanced storylines to fully immerse themselves in Miller’s post-apocalyptic world as they did nine years ago.
The film is an origin tale for Charlize Theron’s iconic one-armed heroine, yet misses Theron completely, opting to focus half of the tale of Furiosa as a child and then replacing the Oscar-winner for Anya Taylor-Joy in the back half. It’s a somewhat puzzling decision perhaps made necessary by the lengthy gap between the two films, and yet Miller isn’t totally able to recapture the magic of “Fury Road” here.
This isn’t to say that Taylor-Joy or Alyla Browne who play the older and younger Furiosa, respectively, in the film do not give strong, compelling performances. Taylor-Joy especially has a gravitas to her turn that helps keep things steady in the increasingly bizarre world that Miller creates.
Adept at both the physical work necessary to carry an action franchise and the emotional nuance she brings in largely nonverbal ways given a lack of dialogue, Taylor-Joy lifts up a wonky, haphazard cavalcade of action sequences in the latter half of “Furiosa” that keep audience engagement high.
The best acting work done in the film is from a wildly manic Chris Hemsworth as the frantic, twisted Dementus, a character Hemsworth is able to twist with his natural bravado and charm from off-kilter psychopath to almost comic relief that amazingly fits brilliantly within the world of Miller’s film. There’s a warmth and vibrancy to Hemsworth’s performance here that is just offset enough by the violent acts Dementus and his followers perpetrate to give the film an engaging antagonist it desperately needs.
Moreso than prior installments in the “Mad Max” franchise, the visuals are the story at the end of the day.
Miller’s post-apocalyptic world is created and developed in a visual tapestry that accentuates a vibrance and off-kilter frequency. In focusing on the mythos of his creation, audiences can be dazzled by the superficial while seemingly being left asunder in terms of a largely unmemorable plot.
“Furiosa” takes exceptional advantage of the large, empty spaces Miller’s wasteland provides and the sharp, almost blinding reds and yellows pop in cinematographer Simon Duggan’s lens.
The technical mastery on display in “Furiosa” will likely make it a contender for several below-the-line awards next spring and the dynamic, largely practical effects in which the film’s numerous stunt sequences are created make for a wholly engrossing experience on the big screen.
While it was designed for IMAX theaters, it’s certainly unnecessary to engulf viewers within “Furiosa” on such a premium format as the illustrious artistry on display still radiates on a regular movie screen.
A fun blockbuster and something worth most audiences’ time, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” packs 90 minutes’ worth of storytelling into well over two hours and shouldn’t be among the year’s best films.
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