Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and depicts the origin story of the title character. There is an interesting depiction in this film of the descent into violence and how that has manifested in this post-apocalyptic society. Everyone has this mad scramble for power and resources that leads to very differing means of trying to fight for that control. Watching how all the respective factions engage in their efforts to maintain resources is ultimately the strength of the storytelling in this one; particularly how these methods of fighting shift over a couple of decades. 

The way this film is shot speaks to George Miller's monolithic vision for these films. It takes tremendous production pieces and moves around them in a way that really studies the piece and makes it engaging. There is so much majesty in a dying world, and at times the camera painting a shot is superior to the narrative at play.

 

Charlee Fraser, who played Mary Jabassa, is an incredible warrior presence in this film; Fraser and Browne formed this survivalist mother/daughter bond that defined the first act as the best part of the film.

However, the best performance came from Alyla Browne, who played Young Furiosa. I'm entirely surprised that one of the youngest performers in this film stood out the strongest, but Browne's work in the first act of the film really set the stage going forward. Watching her work in Furiosa's ingenuity and ability to tackle problems in extreme peril on the fly earned her an edge immediately. I loved how we see Furiosa as a selfless figure through Browne, she places herself before others and the secret of her home. Watching the way she rebels against Hemsworth and her captors with such aggression and hostility sets her apart. I felt her strong connection and love for her onscreen mother, Fraser. This bond was a quiet one that was really fought for in a sincere way. Browne took Furiosa on an extremely natural path from rebellion to resentment right through to downright hatred. In a film titled Furiosa, Alyla Browne is the closest to capturing the incredible work Charlize Theron did all those years ago.

Fury Road felt like a natural evolution for the Mad Max series, a high octane chase across a bizarre hellscape with a deeply character driven cast. I watched this and felt like I was dragged back to the Mad Max series of the 70s and 80s in all the wrong ways. This is a movie that feels bloated and long and full of not much; the wasteland is vast, but the heavy world building focus on a handful of gangs and factions that were infinitely more appealing in Fury Road is a disappointment. The world really thrived with a sense of mystery and discovery. But in this film, everything feels held under a microscope, and that feels like a major misstep. Even in those opening moments in which the history and fall of the world is recounted feels like too much of a peek behind the veil, something this series has never really needed. The overall revenge narrative is simplistic and really reduces Furiosa to a pretty basic anti-hero. Her final throwdown with what is quite an impotent antagonist is quite unfulfilling. Beyond that, her punishment for him is dark, and sullies her character in the lead to Fury Road. I struggled to recognise Furiosa as herself, she doesn't hold the same rugged edge as her debut appearance. Even Immortan Joe feels a bit chattier than his prior characterisation. It's a long film with no sense of destination, underwhelming inspection of the world, and a characterisation of the title role that makes her feel diminished.

The heavier use of CGI is a bold departure that has made Furiosa one of the uglier films in the series. I appreciate there are still some practical effects, but this really felt a lot more artificial. The score is also a let-down, there is nothing really thematic or even strong about any of it.

Anya Taylor-Joy, who played Furiosa, was a very basic casting pick for a role made famous by Theron; Taylor-Joy brought a lightness to Furiosa and killed the rugged edge this protagonist once had. Chris Hemsworth, who played Dr. Dementus, is scraping the goofball barrel of all his famed comedy roles with this one; one of the more cartoonish and outlandish villains in the Mad Max universe. Tom Burke, who played Praetorian Jack, is a real expressionless performer; it seemed difficult to draw any meaningful emotion out of Burke. George Shevtsov, who played The History Man, feels like a role that intrudes on the whole set-up; Shevtsov struggles to find his place in all of this. Lachy Hulme, who played Immortan Joe, is as much Immortan Joe as I'm Dwayne the Rock Johnson; this verbose talkative tyrant is a far cry from what Keays-Byrne brought to life. John Howard, Nathan Jones and Josh Helman, who played The People Eater, Rictus Erectus and Scrotus respectfully, are all henchmen type roles with a little too much free air time on their hands; the characters are all onscreen a lot but they each feel entirely inconsequential to the narrative. Ian Roberts, who played Mr Harley, is one of the many henchmen types paired with Hemsworth; a very weak cadre of performers that looked like they were gathered quite quickly from the local Australian scene.

If Fury Road was everything truly excellent about the Mad Max series, then Furiosa is the exact counterpoint. I would give Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga a 5.5/10.