That was the big question facing legendary director George Miller as he sat down to work on Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, his very eagerly anticipated followup to the last Max Max film – Fury Road.
Of course not everyone was a fan of Fury Road with some franchise stalwarts still arguing that the best films were the originals that Miller had made back in the 1970s and ’80s. And that it seems what Miller decided to do with Furiosa – make a film that the had the characterisation of the original films and the full action of Fury Road and the result is another film that is going to have a massive impact on those watching it.
Furiosa takes the audience right back to when the title character was a small girl (Alyla Browne – True Spirit) living in a luscious paradise. That all stopped when she was kidnapped by men working for Dr Dementus (Chris Hemsworth – The Avengers), who then murders Furiosa’s mother in front of her.
Years later Furiosa finds herself working for Immortan Joe (Lacy Hulme – Killer Elite) where she is trained as a mechanic. The older Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy – The Witch) then begins to work on the War Rigs with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke – Only God Forgives) and as she watches the tribes heading towards war she starts to devise a plan that will see her get revenge on Dementus and hopefully return to the paradise that she once called home.
While Fury Road’s biggest weakness was the fact that it felt like George Miller threw characterisation to the curb when he wrote it, he makes up for it in spades with Furiosa, a film with so much characterisation that it almost presents another issue – a villain so likable that you don’t really want to see his downfall.
The action in this film is amazing (more on that later) but so is the way that these characters have come to life. While expertly written on the page by Miller and Nick Lathouris (Mad Max: Fury Road), these characters are brought to life beautifully well by a cast who are at the top of their game.
This is Anya Taylor-Joy’s film and she gives Furiosa life with a performance where she doesn’t need dialogue-driven scenes to deliver emotion. Many of her scenes here see Furiosa not speak at all yet nobody in the cinema is left wondering how she is feeling. Whether it be action or drama, Taylor-Joy sensationally delivers it all here.
Then there is the performance of Chris Hemsworth, who is arguably playing a role that feels like it was written for Jason Momoa. Hemsworth brings something almost Shakespearean to a character that the screenplay has interestingly written as a guy that is totally out of depth. There are no Marvel ‘I can never be defeated’ super-villain vibes here – and it is the fact that Miller has given Dementus vulnerabilities that makes him as likable as he does.
Even minor characters here, such as the lovable Organic Mechanic (Angus Sampson – Insidious), are given a tonne of characterisation, which Sampson takes and runs with brilliantly as he steals every scene that he is in, while the only character that it felt like needed more work, and screen time was Praetorian Jack – a strange choice for someone who is so important to the story.
The other thing that makes Furiosa a must-see are the action sequences. Once again Miller and his team have created a film that contains edge of your seat type stunts while never failing to be creative throughout. The interweaving of a decent plot in between action sequences is one of the most important things to separate Furiosa from Fury Road and the result is something amazing.
While Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga may not be a masterpiece it is a worthy addition to the Mad Max franchise. It gives more life to one of the most interesting characters to come out of Fury Road and once again proves why George Miller is one of the most creative filmmakers of this generation.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is rated ‘15’ and is currently screening in Phuket.
3/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film journalist for over 25 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He currently hosts a film podcast called The Popcorn Conspiracy. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes accredited reviewer and is an alternate judge for the Golden Globes Awards. You can follow him at Facebook: SubcultureEntertainmentAus