Rating of
3/4
Revenge is a Dish Best Served LOUDLY
Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/31/24
Picking up before the events of Fury Road, George Miller decides to ditch the road warrior and instead focus on Furiosa - played in Fury Road by Charlize Theron and here by Alyla Browne (in her younger age) and by Anya Taylor-Joy in her more young adult phase. We also get a wider glimpse into The Wasteland with Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and his biker horde, The Citadel - still ruled by Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme taking over for the late Hugh Keays-Byrne) and also Gas Town and the Bullet Farm.
Much of the early film follows a young Furiosa as she is kidnapped away from the Green Place (still a near-paradise at this point of the story) and becomes a silent ward to Dementus as she refused to give away the location of her home - even after witnessing what becomes of her mother (whether biological or just part of her society is unknown) and this event is what drives most of the rest of the film: revenge.
Furiosa is bounced to Immortan Joe - bound as one of his future wives - and is nearly taken by Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones, reprsing his role) before escaping once more. But her plan isn't to flee back home but rather find a place in The Citadel where she slowly climbs the ranks to become a high-ranking warrior mechanic and proves her worth to War Rig driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), essentially becoming his apprentice... and maybe something more. Out of all the people she meets along the way, Jack is about the only emotional connction she makes - enough that she even considers the possibility of giving up her mission of revenge and returning home with Jack... but, of course, we know that isn't how things happened. No, instead all-out war as Dementus secures Gas Town before settings his sights even higher.
Furiosa is cut from the same cloth as Fury Road - Miller's style is back in full force - but one thing is quite different this time around. Whereas Fury Road was made with very much a lack of CGI, Furiosa adds in much more of these effects and, I think, it just doesn't have the same impact. There is still plenty of action going on - and the biggest, where the War Rig is under attack from wind-riding raiders, fully stands up to the best action in Fury Road - for the most part, Furiosa feels more muted. It doesn't help that Taylor-Joy doesn't show up (grow up?) until nearly an hour in - the early film sets the tone, but I wish it could have hurried along a bit more.
Hemsworth makes for a decent villain - but it's almost too comical like a carnival barker mixed in with a Roman cosplayer - even if he certainly lives up to his name with his embrace of primal violence. Still, one thing that's good about the film is exploring the other two main areas of the Wasteland - even if both could have gotten more screen time. Also a fun surprise is the addition of characters who were first introduced in the Mad Max video game in the (disgustingly awesome) character of Scabrous Scrotus (Josh Helman) and, in a hilarious late-film cameo, Chumbucket. Not a lot of films would cross-over like that but someone was thinking the right way. Other characters reprising their roles include Angus Sampson (The Organic Mechanice) and John Howard (The People Eater).
As has been pointed out, Taylor-Joy doesn't have a lot to say as Furiosa - she mostly lets her actions do the talking, but I also think she could have been given more. I do think that she does Theron proud - and we get to see just how she lost that arm - but she is given little else than rage to work with. The quiet moments are few and far between but they hold the most weight even with the big action taking up a good chunk of the film (as was expected).
In the end, Furiosa still serves up a heaping helping of action and Miller's vision is still sharp as ever but when compared to Fury Road, it just falls short and is missing that spark. Whereas I consider Fury Road probably the best action film of its generation, Furiosa is merely just a good action movie. Based on the reaction, I don't know if Miller will ever get to finish his vision with a purported third film but even if this is all we get, it's still a fine accomplishment across the board.
