Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

I, rather foolishly, didn't expect a Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) sequel after I walked out of a screening nine years ago. But the revelation that Charlize Theron based her performance (as Furiosa) on a Furiosa centered screenplay that Miller and his co-writer Nico Lathouris had written alongside Fury Road (helped by a terrific display from Theron) led to screaming from all angles about a Furiosa led follow up/prequel/spin-off.

I really liked Fury Road, although I distanced myself from those who coined it a masterpiece; and also didn't have it down in my list of potential Best Picture nominations when the time came for the Academy to unleash their almost yearly barrage of mistakes. But the fact that they included it was a breath of fresh air, with Fury Road being almost everything you wouldn't expect the Academy to go for. It was chaos of the best kind, essentially an extended chase sequence that was impressively shot (to put it lightly), and had stunts that would have Loren "Bumps" Willert looking on in awe.

I was apprehensive about Furiosa from the second I first saw the teaser trailer. The character was an interesting one, but I felt like Miller had spent enough time in the Mad Max nightmarish future, and it was time to move on to pastures greener (quite literally). The trailer itself looked like it was CGI heavy, and it was with a heavy heart (yet open mind) that I entered a screening last week.

Furiosa is almost relentlessly entertaining. My hackles were up after the opening few minutes; a sequence with a voice-over that I didn't particularly care for, flitting swiftly between shots- but once it knuckles down into familiar territory with a young Furiosa being chased across a desert landscape- until the final fifteen minutes or so, it doesn't stop.

You'll note the title includes the word 'saga', and Furiosa justifies this label. At nearly two and a half hours it's ambitious in scope spanning around fifteen years or so, beginning with the murder of Furiosa's Mother by Chris Hemsworth's Dementus. Furiosa is held captive for several years by Dementus, a war lord who then attempts to lead his army of bikers to the Citadel, one of few settlements amongst the Wasteland that houses fresh food and agriculture. We know that the Citadel is run by Immortan Joe, and if you've seen Fury Road you'll also know that this is where Furiosa is at the beginning of Fury Road.

So, the question is, can Miller hold our attention and keep things interesting in the intervening time?

Thankfully the answer is unequivocally yes. Without giving too much plot away, the middle section of the film focuses on Furiosa helping to build and then ride in the 'War Rig', a tanker carrying supplies that can withstand any attack from raiders in the Wasteland. She goes about this alongside Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), and the film's centerpiece is an absolutely stunning raider attack on the tanker, that is staggeringly shot and brilliantly put together, helped by a gripping and pulsing score that remains throughout by Tom Holkenborg.

While Furiosa doesn't quite match this midpoint, it's some barrier to clear. I'd honestly have to go back and rewatch Fury Road to see how the two compare, but I certainly walked out of Furiosa with more of a spring in my step. Certainly there's an argument that I went into Fury Road with much higher expectations than I did Furiosa, which affected my feelings walking out, but there's no doubt whatsoever that Furiosa continues what has so far been a hugely impressive year for film.

Furiosa isn't perfect; the inevitable ending drags a tad and feels somewhat anti-climatic after what's come before, but these are fairly minor quibbles. Everyone involved is having a blast, and the world building from Miller is astonishing as we're introduced to places like Gas Town, the Green Place and the Bullet Farm which expand the series' world, and, dare I say it, left this viewer wanting more installments 8.0/10