- Directed and Produced by George Miller
- May 15, 2024 (Cannes) / May 23, 2024 (Australia) / May 24, 2024 (US)
- Based on characters created by George Miller, Byron Kennedy, and Nico Lathouris
The story of Furiosa from her kidnapping by warlord Dementus to her revenge on him over a decade later for the death of her mother.
From the outset the problem Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga faced was that it’s a film nobody really asked for. It’s an unwanted prequel to a movie that fans were begging for a proper sequel to. Yet in a similar vein to Independence Day: Resurgence it isn’t a bad movie. It’s just an unwanted film. A very unwanted film. It tells us in long form a story we got the Cliff Notes version of nine years prior. It may have that George Miller flare but if you want Transformers but get really nice Go-Bots instead it does not mean you are okay we the Go-Bots.
Furiosa’s first transgression-an understandable one given the story Miller wished to tell-is replacing Hugh Keays-Byrne with Lachy Hulme in the part of Immortan Joe. Keays-Byrne passing meant the part was uncast. Keays-Byrne never was a big name but he was a massive talent and what he did with the character went beyond simply uttering the words well. He gave it a little something that not all actors could. Based on his passing alone I would not have made this movie but I’m not George Miller.
The greatest sin though was what appeared to be a heavy use of green screen to accomplish certain shots. I know there’s a big concern for safety but the thing is there’s a distinct difference when someone has a virtual background behind them and when they have the real thing there. The faked shots are missing that little extra that comes from being really there. Watch the old Mad Max films. The performers are climbing on all these vehicles as they are actually moving. Look at how they react. Their emotions are just different even though they are often doing the same thing here that they did in Thunderdome or even Mad Max 2. When those nuanced aesthetics change it can be picked up by long-term fans.
The heavy use of CGI is another issue I had. It reaches a point here where you cannot help but see it thus taking your mind off of the action. Rather than using camera tricks to make numbers appear greater, distance shots are used to show hundreds if not thousands of characters inserted via computer. Large complexes are shown in the background lacking the look of quality CGI and taking on the look of a lazy matte painting. I was left feeling as if this was taking place in a Mad Max-like world but not in the world of Mad Max.
Yet my issues aside, there is more good than bad in Furiosa. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) is a fantastic villain. This is quite unlike anyone that I am familiar with Hemsworth having played. There is a detached-from-reality aspect to his performance. Something that he’s not all there. Weird and crazy. A truly threatening villain, but his character is such that you know he’s going to get undone. Not necessarily because you know how the story ends sort of but because of his ego and hubris you know whatever problems he ultimately causes will be his downfall. Yet there’s enough about the character that you think maybe in some way or somehow he could figure it out and be successful. And like so many of The Wasteland he is broken and empty. The world has gone crazy and that madness has infected him.
Anya Taylor-Joy does a good job of taking over the reins of the Furiosa character from Charlize Theron. Not great but good. Theron is an actress in a league of her own. Taylor-Joy still has a few years to get there. She can convey intelligence as well as resilience. But the toughness Theron had even in her softer moments is missing. Taylor-Joy is cold but cold is not tough.
Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) is a one-off character here that is rather formative to the character of Furiosa. Tepid romance-like relationship with Furiosa aside, he has a passing resemblance to Mel Gibson in the part previously played by Tom Hardy. Was this an attempt to visually acknowledge the past or was it a ham-fisted way to enhance why Furiosa was willing to give Max in Fury Road a chance? Either was unnecessary.
Jack is Furiosa’s Obi-Wan who teaches her the skills she needs to accomplish her goal in this movie or her goal in Fury Road. Looking at him outside of this he does not look like an actor that can do the job here but man he really sells it. Despite never quite getting a reason, he is convincing that he takes this stranger clearly trying to escape Immortan Joe under his wing.
The film becomes a war between Immortan Joe and Dementus that is truly brutal. I wanted to see them beat the crap out of each other until one is taken down, but it is more like a struggle or three and then Dementus is abruptly fleeing. That felt like a bit of a letdown as their struggle is covered more in narration than in display. The ultimate goal though is to connect the end of this to Fury Road rather than have it exist as an independent story. We know it connects. There is no need to spell it out to the audience.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a good movie but it’s a good movie nobody wanted and harms itself in several ways. Not bad but not necessary viewing for purposes of the Mad Max universe.
Warren Watched A Movie 