Movie Review: ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’
Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opening in theaters on May 24th is the fifth film in the ‘Mad Max’ franchise and a prequel/spinoff to 2015’s Oscar-nominated ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ entitled ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’, which was once again directed by visionary filmmaker George Miller.
The film features Alyla Browne (‘Three Thousand Years of Longing‘) and Anya Taylor-Joy (‘Dune: Part Two’) both as Furiosa, the role played by Charlize Theron in ‘Fury Road’. The cast also includes Chris Hemsworth (‘Thor: Love and Thunder’) as Dementus, Tom Burke (‘Mank’) as Praetorian Jack, Lachy Hulme (‘The Matrix Reloaded’) as Immortan Joe, and Angus Sampson (‘Insidious: The Red Door’) reprising his ‘Fury Road’ role as The Organic Mechanic.
Related Article: Chris Hemsworth Talks Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’
Initial Thoughts
(L to R) Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack and Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jasin Boland. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Returning to the cinematic world he created, filmmaker George Miller once again delivers an exciting and thrilling adventure, which acts as both a prequel and a spinoff to ‘Fury Road’. While ‘Furiosa’ is more character driven than its predecessor it still features the same level of visually stunning action sequences, which are enhanced this time around by the character development. Both Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy give extremely strong performances as Furiosa, but it is Chris Hemsworth in his first truly great post ‘Thor’ performance as the evil yet hysterically funny biker villain, Dementus.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Anya Taylor-Joy and director George Miller on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jasin Boland. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Beginning decades before ‘Fury Road’, the film first introduces us to a young Furiosa (Browne), who lives in a secret eutopia far away from the Wasteland called the Green Place of Many Mothers. When bikers accidentally come across their home, Furiosa bravely warns her people, but is abruptly kidnapped by the bikers and taken to their leader, the Warlord Dementus (Hemsworth). After a desperate rescue attempt by her mother (Charlee Fraser) fails, Furiosa is raised by Dementus so he can gain her trust and discover the location of her home to take it for his own.
Dementus soon sets his sights on taking over the Citadel from its leader, Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). But when his first attempt fails, he negotiates what he wants from Joe in exchange for Furiosa, who will be groomed as a wife to breed. After the exchange, Furiosa (now Taylor-Joy) eventually escapes and meets a transporter, or Road Warrior if you will, named Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke). Jack agrees to teach her his ways in exchange for her help transporting goods for Immortan Joe and as time passes, she slowly becomes the character we remember from ‘Fury Road’, albeit a slightly younger version. But, when Dementus and his biker horde wage war on Immortan Joe, it gives Furiosa her chance at revenge and possibly finally returning home.
Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jasin Boland. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
To be fair, I’ve never been a huge fan of the ‘Mad Max’ franchise. The first two films, ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Mad Max 2’ were a little too slow for me. ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’ injected more humor into the franchise and therefore was a bit more enjoyable. Miller certainly reinvented the franchise with ‘Fury Road’, which I enjoyed but not as much as most. The action was incredible and visually beautiful to watch, but the story was complicated and the characters, while interesting, were not explored or developed enough for me to ultimately care.
That is not the case with ‘Furiosa’ as Miller really takes his time to tell the title character’s backstory and develop not only her, but Hemsworth’s villain and Burke’s Jack as well. By the end of the movie, you really care about the characters and what happens to them. That only adds to the excitement of the action sequences, which in some ways are better than the last film. Miller has truly created a captivating world, and ‘Furiosa’ allows him to explore it in a way he never has before.
Heavy Metal Action
An action scene being filmed on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jasin Boland. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Miller out does himself this time with a barrage of stunning, high-octane action sequences that rival what was seen in ‘Fury Road.’ Along with his cinematographer Simon Duggan, Miller conceives grand, sweeping master shots of the desolate Wasteland while also serving up metal-crashing explosive action sequences. One such scene involves a big rig truck barreling through the desert at top speeds while being attacked by bikers and hybrid helicopter-bikes. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before from Miller in this universe and ups the action from the previous installments.
Furiosa
Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy are both excellent as Furiosa and give a seamless performance together. However, it is worth noting that they equally share the role, and Taylor-Joy does not appear until the halfway mark. Once she does, her dialogue is limited, by the actress excels at expressing her emotions physically or with just a quick look. Taylor-Joy transforms into the basic character we know from ‘Fury Road’ quite well, and in the end is a dead ringer for Theron’s version. She also has great chemistry with Burke, and I’m glad they gave Furiosa an alley to relate to and care for.
But it is Browne who carries much of the film, and really builds the character for Taylor-Joy to take over. Browne creates a believably strong character and lays the groundwork for what is to come. The young actress is great opposite Hemsworth, making Furiosa and Dementus’ volatile relationship fun to watch.
Chris Hemsworth’s Killer Performance
Chris Hemsworth in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jasin Boland. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
While he was unarguably great in the MCU movies, Chris Hemsworth has struggled ever since to find a role that fit him quite as well as Thor. He has had some success with the ‘Extraction’ movies, but not since ‘Avengers: Endgame’ has he really been able to tap into both his physical strength and his surprising comedic abilities … until now.
Dementus is the perfect Chris Hemsworth role! It allows him to be physically imposing, over-the-top funny, and as evil as he wants to be. The actor plays the character with an evil charm and a sadistic humor but is also physically believable in his action sequences. While Browne and Taylor-Joy might be the heart of the movie, Hemsworth steals every scene he’s in and may now be the best villain in the ‘Mad Max’ franchise.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Chris Hemsworth and director George Miller on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jasin Boland. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The film’s ending does beg questions about how this connects to ‘Fury Road’ and the future of the franchise, but it doesn’t take away from the emotionally affective and visually exciting theatrical experience the audience has just had. And at just over two and half hours, I can honestly say that it never felt long and kept my attention throughout.
In the end, ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ is an exciting, action-packed, character driven film that succeeds on most levels. Director George Miller has created another visually stunning action adventure, that really takes its time to set up the characters and build on the world from the previous films. While Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy are wonderful together as the title character, Chris Hemsworth brings the action and the fun in one of his finest roles to date.
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ receives 8.5 out of 10 stars.
“Fury is born.”
As the world falls, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through… Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’?
Set 15 to 20 years before the events of ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, as the world falls apart, young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and into the hands of a Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). While two Tyrants war for dominance over the Citadel, an older Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) survives many trials as she plots a way back home through the Wasteland.
Who is in the cast of ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’?
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Imperator Furiosa
- Alyla Browne as young Furiosa
- Chris Hemsworth as Dementus
- Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack
- Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe
- Nathan Jones as Rictus Erectus
- Josh Helman as Scrotus
- John Howard as The People Eater
- Angus Sampson as The Organic Mechanic
- Charlee Fraser as Mary Jo Bassa
Chris Hemsworth in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ action adventure ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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