Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

It may seem like a long time since we had Mad Max: Fury Road, but at least we have known that this movie was coming along at some point. There was a time when we didn't expect to spend more time in this world after Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. But the most important thing to remember before sitting down to watch Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is that this isn’t Mad Max: Fury Road. Every Mad Max movie has been surprisingly different from the one preceding it, with the action and characters allowing George Miller to continue his exploration of heroes, storytelling, and how reality is hammered into shape by those living in it long enough. This film has some great action, but it’s mostly concerned with showing us a world in which a good person is forced to become stronger and smarter as they are passed from one villain to another.

We first meet Furiosa as a child here, played brilliantly by Alyla Browne. She is snatched by bad men, ending up in the care of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Dementus thinks he is a grand warlord, but his perspective is changed when he comes face to face with Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and his dedicated army of warboys. Furiosa is handed over to Joe, Dementus becomes the ruler of Gastown, and time ticks merrily along for all involved. Eventually getting herself a job working alongside a talented “road warrior” named Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), Furiosa (played as an adult by Anya Taylor-Joy) develops instincts and skills that will make her a valuable asset when Dementus decides that he wants to rule over more than just the denizens of Gastown. There could be a war brewing, but Furiosa still has a personal score to settle anyway.

With Miller comfortably in the director’s chair yet again, having also co-written the script with Nick Lathouris, this is a film that fans of the franchise should be happy to support. Few people are as good at somehow both meeting and subverting expectations as Miller, and he does exactly that once again. I would say there are three action sequences here that are astonishingly good, up there with the best you will ever see on the big screen, but they are deliberately couched within a movie that spends most of the runtime showing us the harsh and crazy world that leads to the creation of such harsh and crazy characters. It laughs at the people unprepared to do whatever needs to be done for the sake of survival and prosperity, and then shows how painful the process of adaption and transition can be. What is the point of being a big fish in a small pond when that small pond is actually a barren desert?

The more I think about Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga the more I am inclined to absolutely love it. I think a rewatch or two will see me bump up my rating slightly, but it’s hard to be so unreservedly effusive about it right now. First, it does inevitably suffer slightly when compared to the non-stop juggernaut of the film that preceded it. Second, there’s so much to take in, in terms of the detailing of the world and the connective tissue throughout the franchise, that one viewing just isn’t enough to fully appreciate it. I would advise everyone, if possible, to see it on the big screen though. This is cinema.

The cast are generally great. Alyla Browne is absolutely superb as the young Furiosa, a ball of resentment and unnerving patience. As much as I like Taylor-Joy, she is the one slightly weak link here. Not bad, and she certainly doesn’t unbalance the film, but her performance just feels slightly less convincing when she isn’t ensconced within the supporting armour of a powerful vehicle. Thankfully, she is surrounded by some other people on top form. Hemsworth steals the show, the facial prosthetics somehow helping to define his character as equal parts braggart warrior and sniveling politician, and Hulme takes on the role of Joe (previously played by the late Hugh Keays-Burn) with an admirable dedication to the physicality and eye-acting required. As for Burke, he proves himself to be a surprisingly great fit for this kind of gruff hero role, and I could easily imagine a spin-off movie showing us his adventures (Praetorian Jack: A Furiosa Saga From A Mad Max Saga, or something like that). There are others worth mentioning, but I would worry about starting a list of names that would go on and on for ages. Needless to say, almost every supporting cast member does a brilliant job of playing someone who feels like a part of this world.

Despite the CGI here, despite the prosthetics, and despite the confident plotting, the major achievement here is the consistent continuation of Miller’s vision that has spanned almost five decades now. This is more than just a movie. You will feel the dry heat, smell the engines, and tense up as vehicles cause the expected amounts of carnage. This is the closest you will get to a full immersive experience without adding any gimmickry to the process. It’s long, it can be a bit tiring by the time you get to the end credits, but it’s definitely worth it. There’s a point in this film when Hemsworth asks “do you have it in you to make it epic?” I would argue that Miller can’t give us Mad Max movies any other way. And we should all be thankful for that.

9/10

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