Following the resounding critical and commercial success of his 2015 Mad Max film Fury Road, Australian director George Miller returns to that universe in order to tell the origin tale of Charlize Theron’s character Furiosa.
It’s a bold move to continue the Mad Max saga without Max himself, but Miller’s films are always bravely adventurous and Furiosa is no different.
Taking on the title role for this prequel are Alyla Browne as the child version of Furiosa, and Anya Taylor-Joy who portrays the films hero in adulthood.
Growing up in the fabled green place, the young Furiosa is kidnapped by a group of bikers led by Chris Hemsworth’s brilliantly named Dementus. Riding a chariot pulled by motorbikes, the unhinged warlord is power hungry, and hell bent on finding the haven Furiosa hails from, in order to increase his standing among the other wasteland leaders. One such leader is Fury Road’s Citadel overlord Immortun Joe, who again features heavily alongside his henchmen sons Rictus and Scrotus, but this time with Lachy Hulme in the role replacing the sadly departed Hugh Keays-Byrne.
The film is more episodic in its format than Fury Road, with five distinct chapters each introduced by their own title card, but despite its differences, Miller loses none of the spectacle, continuing to build on the epic world he has created and deepening the mythology even further.
The two lead actresses are superbly cast, and eerily similar in appearance. So much so, it is not completely obvious when Browne hands the reigns over to the older Taylor-Joy.
Browne displays the characters wily smarts beneath her youthful exterior, while Taylor-Joy, who much like her predecessor Theron, trained as a ballet dancer before becoming an actress, brings that poise and agility to the action scenes.
Against a backdrop of fiery war rigs and deranged muscle bound henchmen, Furiosa is calculated, cunning and fuelled by rage as she seeks vengeance for the brutal murder of her mother at Dementus’s hand.
Hemsworth relishes the chance to play against type as the films chief antagonist and despite an off-putting fake nose, is wholly believable as the horribly callous warlord.
Tom Burke also stars in a supporting role as Pretorias Jack, a seasoned rig driver who takes Furiosa under his wing, his performance is solid, but perhaps too subtle for a film like this, as he gets lost in the sea of maniacal characters.
If the early reports are to be believed, the film hasn’t fared very well at the box office. Of course there’s still a chance it will become a success on streaming platforms, but Furiosa’s true home is undoubtedly the big screen where its gloriously colourful cinematography and pounding sound design can be properly appreciated and the violent mayhem and thunderous rumbles of the War rigs can be drummed into your soul.
An action-packed monster of a film, Furiosa is another remarkable achievement from a veteran filmmaker who refuses to slow down.
After a particularly brutal encounter towards the end, Hemsworth’s Dementus asks Furiosa ‘Do you have it in you to make it Epic?’
The answer in George Miller’s case is a resounding Yes!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Paul Steward
28/05/24
x @grittster