A One Mann’s Movies review of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (2024).
To reuse the question from Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), if I asked George Miller if he “had it in ya to make it epic?” the 79 year-old veteran director would surely respond “Yep!”. For “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is an epic riot of explosive action.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Telling the backstory of Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) from “Mad Max: Fury Road“, we first meet a young Furiosa (a well cast Alyla Browne) is her oasis community that is full of “abundance”. But snatched by a scouting party of Dr Dementer’s men, Furiosa is whisked off to an uncertain future.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong violence, injury detail”.)
Talent:
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, George Shevtsov, Lachy Hulme, John Howard.
Directed by: George Miller.
Written by: George Miller & Nick Lathouris.
Twitter Handle: #Furiosa.
Running Time: 2h 28m.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” Summary:
Positives:
- Epic, Wild, Bonkers, Imaginative, Exciting, Inventive, Funny: it’s everything you could want from a big-screen action adventure.
- Some of the stunt work in the amazing action sequences is next level crazy.
- Great scenary-chewing acting from Taylor-Joy, Hemsworth and Burke.
Negatives:
- At two and a half bladder-busting hours, perhaps it could have been trimmed a little.
- It’s made rather unclear whether Dr Demetus recognises older Furiosa as younger Furiosa (it seems not and it worried me that he wouldn’t make that connection).
Review of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”:
Action Stations!
“Mad Max: Fury Road” was one of my Top 10 Films of the Year for 2015 and so I went into “Furiosa” with some trepidation that I would be disappointed. Could George Miller do it again? Well, yes, he absolutely could! Though lacking in dialogue (Miller says it ‘gets in the way of the action!) and short on deep philosophical meaning, “Furiosa” delivers action thrills like never before. Some of the action scenes are next level bonkers, particularly an extended scene of an attack on a tanker, driven by Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) as it careers along a desert highway. I know there is a growing movement to recognise a stunt team through an Academy Award: here’s an immediate nomination for that Oscar.
Quirky dialogue
Some of the dialogue is laugh out loud funny! Characters with names like Scrotus, Rectus, Rictus Erectus, and Toe Jam are deliberately designed to be titter-worthy. Chris Hemsworth gets given a range of ludicrously bombastic lines to bark at his men.
Also, a road-warrior weapon is called a “bommy-knocker” which made us (parents of a certain age) roar with laughter, since it comes from a children’s story from our past. (It may have been reused since, but it was in a children’s book from the 60’s called “The Hungry Giant” by Kiwi author Jay Cowley.)
Scenes that stick with you
The film oozes style in some of its imagery. There are the epic landscapes of the Australian outback, naturally, and these are so impressive on the big screen (with cinematography by Simon Duggan). But in addition, so many of the images in the film stay in the mind: time passing through the growth of a tree; the reveal after an unexpected escape; the spectacular scale of the sets of The Citadel, Gas Town and Bullet Town; and another, more bizarre, growth of a tree!
Wonderful performances
Anya Taylor-Joy further claims her place as a box-office leading lady: she is simply spectacular in this role. Those eyes! Such a powerful screen presence! She ABSOLUTELY makes it epic!
Chris Hemsworth also has a huge amount of fun with his demented character. Overblown, outrageous, out of control, he spouts his ludicrously quirky dialogue and with a teddy bear chained to his back! It’s a cracking performance and imho, one of Hemsworth’s very best.
Tom Burke, TV’s “Strike” of course, is also great as a Furiosa ally and unlikely love interest.
Can you have too much epic?
It’s an epic film, but at two and a half mildly bladder-stretching hours it is a bit of a marathon. Some of it also feels unduly rushed: a “45 day Wasteland War” is over in about 5 minutes when it feels like it could have been 45 minutes of additional “Helm’s Deep”-style strategy and action.
Perhaps “Furiosa” could happily have been delivered as two shorter “Part 1” and “Part 2” films?
Don’t I recognise you?
Another minor criticism, which left me a bit confused, was whether Dr Dementus recognises, or not, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa as being the younger Alyla Browne’s Furiosa. I rather think not, which I didn’t understand. And if not, he seems to have little curiosity about where this fire-cracker of a woman has come from.
.
Monkeys?
As a sort of “monkey“, dring the first part of the end titles there are selected scenes from the “follow-on film” (chronologically) “Mad Max: Fury Road“. If you’ve never seen a “Mad Max” film and have enjoyed “Furiosa”, then these will just whet your appetite to go on and watch the masterpiece that is “Fury Road”! (I had to run for a train, so I don’t actually know if there is a post-credit monkey – I’ll check next time I watch it, which will be immediately on release!)
Summary Thoughts on “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
It’s an epic blast of Mad Max magic and a “must see” on the biggest screen possible. I saw it in IMAX, and although I don’t believe it was filmed with IMAX cameras, it is very impressive to watch in that format.
By the way, you don’t need to have seen any of the previous Mad Max films to enjoy this one as an action spectacular. Yes, there are nods to past films for those in the know, but it works as a standalone film too.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is released in cinemas nationwide on Friday… go and see it!
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJMuhwVlca4 .
Subscribe
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to One Mann’s Movies to receive future reviews by email right here. No salesman will call!
He does remember her at the very end. He calls her “Little D”
Ah! Thanks Lindsay. I clearly missed that. Have been meaning to go and give it another watch but will need to be in a week or two due to other commitments. Thanks for commenting.