• Release year: 2024
• Director: George Miller.
• Producers: George Miller and Doug Mitchell.
• Screenplay by: George Miller and Nick Lathouris.
• Cinematography by: Simon Duggan.
• Music by: Tom Holkenborg.

Shotgun Commentary: unnecessary story that brings nothing new to the table, but has pretty good action sequences and Fury Road’s delightful colour palette.

Review

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is exactly what the title implies, they took the most epic character from Mad Max: Fury Road, and decided to milk it a bit more. Overall, one can’t blame them, getting a popular young actress to play a beloved character is a no-brainer. However, easy money doesn’t necessarily translate as good quality.

The wrong focus

This instalment, although not particularly vital, does sparkle some curiosity. One of the biggest questions that the character of Furiosa (Charlize Theron) inspires is, how did she not become another of Imortan Joe’s wives? She’s a healthy woman, how did she convince them to let her be an Imperator? Well, if you’re hoping for an answer to these questions, or any others except for the loss of her arm, you are not going to get any.

Taking into consideration that this is a long feature dedicated to explaining the makings of one character, it is incredibly disappointing how the story skims through all the details, favouring close-ups of characters that are conveying absolutely nothing with their expressions. A little less dramatic poses and a little more actual substance would have gone a long way.

The good, the bad, the ugly

Having said that, the first hour of the film is quite good. Alyla Browne as a very young Furiosa knocks it out of the park. The most traumatic moments of the protagonist’s life take place during this part of the film, and Browne rises to the occasion, delivering a powerful performance that pulls you into her character’s feelings and compels you to mirror them.

Sadly, the same can’t be said for Anya Taylor-Joy’s appearance. Much like in her previous films, her character has the total amount of one expression. The only variable being whether this expression comes with watery eyes or not. Furiosa is not a very expressive character by nature, but Theron managed to express all sorts of emotions just with her eyes, an ability that Taylor-Joy hasn’t been able to acquire yet. Despite the character being quite stoic, that lack of message or emotion in her face during the whole film made Furiosa quite flat. In fact, her most powerful moment is one where her face isn’t even on screen (won’t go into details to avoid spoilers).

As for Chris Hemsworth, he plays Dementus, the main villain of the feature. Regrettably, his performance is nothing that we haven’t seen before, Billy Lee (Bad Times at the El Royale, 2018) comes to mind. The writing is good and the arch compelling, but the execution could have been better. Dementus does horrible things to a lot of people, yet he is still somewhat likeable, probably due to how close to comedic his character is. The nose was a nice try, but ultimately it doesn’t hide the fact that he looks like a deranged version of Thor in an apocalyptic wasteland.

Rocky delivery

Following the precedent set by Mad Max: Fury Road, the action sequences are great fun. The chaos of the fight on the road is made beautiful once again through great choreos and Fury Road’s characteristic colour palette.

The aesthetics of the film generally follows that of the previous instalment, with a couple of unfortunate exceptions, like fake bald heads that look like the Furiosa has grown and shrunk four sizes of head in between takes, or the lack of resemblance between Taylor-Joy and Theron. At least both actresses do look similar to each other, so technically it’s a job half-well done?

Lastly, the scenes from Mad Max: Fury Road during the end credits are a good touch to connect both features further. Nevertheless, they weren’t necessary at all, and it kinda gives off the vibe that Miller wasn’t happy with it, so they use images from another movie instead of the one you have just watched. Hopefully, that is not the case, but it still gives the wrong impression.

All in all, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is pretty decent for a gratuitous prequel. It won’t go down in history at the same level as Fury Road, but it is a pretty adequate attempt. It could have been better if there was less focus on posing and more focus on actually revealing information about Furiosa though.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone.
• Makeup is a powerful tool
• Not every movie needs a sequel nor a prequel.

What’s your take? Have you watched Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga? What do you think of the storyline? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀