Film Review: FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (2024): Anya Taylor-Joy Stars in a Wild Ride That is Imaginative but Doesn’t Come Close to its Predecessor
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by George Miller, written by Nick Lathouris and George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, Elsa Pataky, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, David Field, Rachel Romahn, David Collins, Goran D. Kleut, C.J. Bloomfield and Matuse.
2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road was a masterpiece which won several technical Oscars and was a stupendous cinematic achievement. The new prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, is overstuffed, to say the least. It meanders on with plenty of appealing visuals that just plod on endlessly sometimes. There are great ideas here like a giant monster truck that proves how creative the filmmakers truly are. However, the problems lie in several places: The dialogue, the execution and the acting. Anya Taylor-Joy is supposed to be the star of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga but she gets outdone by the actress playing her younger character, Alyla Browne. Taylor-Joy’s character, Furiosa, gets into a vehicle at one point and says to another key character, “We’re good.” They may be true for the time being in the plot but feels like a gross understatement in the context of the film.
The opening scenes of Furiosa: A Mad Max Story set the big screen ablaze with action and are absolutely astonishing to behold. The young Furiosa is out with her sister and Furiosa tells the sister to stay put as Furiosa goes to puncture some tires of some bike raiders. These villains have closed in on Furiosa’s home, the Green Place of Many Mothers. In short order, Furiosa is abducted and her mom (Charlee Fraser) soon pursues those who have taken Furiosa. Enter the less than noble warlord, Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth, overacting and then some), who takes Furiosa and eventually tries to pass her off as his daughter. Poor Furiosa’s mom is murdered after a foiled escape attempt. These sequences are all fresh and masterfully constructed but the movie soon hits a wall for a bit of its extended running time.
The Citadel’s Immortan Joe (an adequate Lachy Hulme) is in competition with Dementus and this is where the movie starts to feel a little long-winded. Joe wants to have Furiosa in his life to be his eventual wife. Tom Burke serves as Praetorian Jack with whom Furiosa will form a strong bond. They both seem to connect as they are the only survivors of an attack. Gas Town is a key location which drives the plot forward as it shifts back and forth between action scenes and sequences which try to advance the story along.
The piece de resistance of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga may be the “War Rig” that Furiosa plays a key role in helping develop. This is an invention which is pivotal to the progression of the plot. This film though is mostly interested in having Chris Hemsworth ham it up in a showy role that may work better for some viewers than for others. Hemsworth has a lot of bad-boy appeal that could make his role one of the most appealing aspects of the film for the actor’s fans but Hemsworth is clearly acting from a handbook that dictates to the audience how they should feel about him as certain parts of the movie arrive. Furiosa will ultimately face-off with Dementus but getting there becomes a chore due to some overlong shots which prove that Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is competently made but ultimately drag on beyond a reasonable doubt.
That being said, the opening scenes starring Alyla Browne as Furiosa have a lot of proficiency to them and are clearly the most concise parts here. When Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the role, the film is not as exciting to watch until the last half hour or so. It takes time to warm up to Taylor-Joy when the audience has grown accustomed to watching Browne play the role. Browne doesn’t have the age behind her to continue the role but leaves pretty big shoes for Taylor-Joy to fill. Ultimately, Taylor-Joy is pretty reliable in the title role but the dialogue could have used a polish.
Tom Burke adds a very distinct presence to the new movie that makes Jack leap off the screen as a character. Burke and Taylor-Joy have exciting screen personas that make the movie become more relatable than it could have been had the character of Jack not existed in the story line. They create believable chemistry throughout.
A lot of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga could have been tightened up in the editing room. However, that would have meant that great shots would have had to have been eliminated. This film is more interested in impressing the viewer with great visuals than telling the story the way it needed to be told.
That being said, the scenes with Browne at the film’s start are so successful that they make up for some of the problems the movie showcases in its midsection. Furiosa, as a character, is portrayed in an appealing way that will make audiences root for her throughout the movie’s almost two-and-a-half hour running time.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga just doesn’t have the magic that Mad Max: Fury Road possessed though the new prequel will surely earn some well deserved technical Oscar nominations. Comparing the prequel to something which bordered on perfection is also not necessarily just. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga exists on its own terms and, in its own way, is a successful film. If you haven’t seen the 2015 picture, this new prequel may well be enough. Fans of the 2015 film will know better. Still, no need to discourage you from seeing the prequel. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga still stands an action-packed film driven by its central characters to an exciting climax.
Rating: 7.5/10
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