Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Jump on those kickstarters because it's once again time to rev your engines & venture into the wasteland of George Miller's apocalyptic world of road warfare with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. This time, though Miller takes a detour, that has us leave Max Rockatansky behind & instead chooses to focus on Furiosa - a character first introduced in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga acts as a prequel to the aforementioned Mad Max: Fury Road. This entry into the saga aims to expand on the lore of the show-stealing character previously portrayed by Charlize Theron & now embodied by Anya Taylor-Joy. To achieve this goal viewers are transported back to Furiosa's childhood as we witness her being kidnapped from "The Green Place/Place Of Abundance" before she is handed over to the comically evil villain, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). It's this moment, & the subsequent years of trauma that Furiosa must witness & endure, that will set her on the path to becoming the daunting, vengeful, cunning figure we met on the Fury Road.
Anya Taylor-Joy is fantastic in the role of Furiosa, bringing a quiet determination & desire for revenge to the character. Even with very few lines of dialogue the character's intentions, motivations & emotions are clear. So much so that with just a simple glance Furiosa can bring once powerful & arrogant men to their knees.
A great hero is only as good as the villain they oppose, & Hemsworth's Dementus is the perfect foible for Furiosa. Whether he's giving cult leader-like motivational speeches or committing some of the most despicable acts ever seen in the Mad Max lore it's impossible not to feel a deep-seeded emotion, be that hatred or admiration, towards the character.
Where Dementus is however let down is the make-up & some of the lines of dialogue given to him. The obvious prosthetic nose is certainly distracting, for me I couldn't help but get flashes of Triple H anytime we got a close-up of Dementus. On the dialogue front, Dementus can occasionally drift into the comical & absurd, which snapped me out of the moment a few too many times to be overlooked.
As is typical for Miller & this universe, the world/lore building is incredibly powerful in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. This film does a phenomenal job of further expanding elements that we were first introduced to in Mad Max: Fury Road. Whether that is the Green Place, Gas Town, Bullet Farm or the political intricacies at play between these three kingdoms.
The lore which is at the core of the Furiosa character is also greatly expanded & detailed. Each moment that she experiences acts as a small building block to ultimately create the character we know from the next chronological entry in the franchise. It's this element of this film that cannot be overstated, because although we know where the character ultimately winds up further along on the timeline the journey remains riveting.
Finally, an area that was always a standout of previous Mad Max entries was the use of mostly practical effects. While Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga does continue to use practical effects it's also abundantly clear that CGI has become a much larger part of Miller's palette & toolbox. For the most part, this is fine but on occasion, particularly wide shots of sprawling hordes of bikers & cars, the difference in quality between practical effects & CGI is glaring!
Ultimately though, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is an outstanding, high-octane, engine-revving, action-packed story that delves into the extreme lengths humanity will wield to protect loved ones.
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