Nine years ago, George Miller gave us one of the greatest action movies of all time, with Fury Road. The bar was set impossibly high. How could he possibly deliver a follow up that reached those same heights? Well, he couldn’t, but Furiosa is still a worthy addition to the Max Max Saga, filled with plenty of jaw dropping vehicular mayhem to fuel its ferocious revenge story.
If you go into this prequel expecting the same type of experience as Fury Road, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. This is a slower, more character focused wasteland epic that sprawls across a decade and a half. It works to give Furiosa a lot more character depth, adding further context and motivation to her actions in Fury Road. We’d only seen glimpses of her past before, and now we get the full, bloody picture. On top of that, the movie does an excellent job of making the wasteland feel much bigger than it ever has. It’s not all just dirt roads this time around, as we also venture to locations like Gastown and the Bullet Farm.
While it isn’t really fair to compare the structure or plot of the two films, it’s absolutely fair to compare the action. Fury Road’s insane vehicular set pieces hold up magnificently because of their elaborate practical execution. Yes, there are visual effects, but used in subtle ways to enhance the action. The action sequences here are impressively orchestrated, with Miller proving even at 80 years old he’s still a master of his craft. However, he leans far more heavily on visual effects, often in place of things that could’ve been achieved practically. Don’t get me wrong, the action is still some of the best we’ve seen this year, but layers of lacklustre VFX spoil some of the immersion.
With a story that spans over 15 years, we’re taken through a large portion of Furiosa’s life, beginning with her childhood. Young Furiosa is played by Alyla Browne, who does a great job, despite only having a handful of lines. It’s actually over an hour until Anya Taylor Joy appears, but once she does, it’s clear she was the right choice to take over this iconic role. She also doesn’t have many lines, but through her expressiveness is able to convey so much. Chris Hemsworth hams it up as Dementus, and while I didn’t find him all that intimidating as a villain, his unhinged performance is so much fun to watch. My favourite new character was Tom Burke’s Praetorian Jack. Although he’s more or less a fill in for Max, I really enjoyed his presence and the chemistry he shares with Taylor Joy.
Furiosa is a sprawling, action packed epic that also takes time to flesh out the characters who inhabit this strange wasteland. The action is loud and spectacular, and despite an overreliance on subpar CGI, this is a must see theatrical experience.
4/5