Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review – A Welcome Return to the Wasteland

I’ll get the worst thing I’ll say about this film out of the way first. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is not as good as Mad Max: Fury Road. The list of films better than that arguably perfect blockbuster remains very short. Fury Road was a non-stop thrill ride with impossible momentum, but Furiosa takes a few stops on its longer road trip. Those differences aside, Furiosa remains a masterpiece of bold, moving storytelling in a setting worthy of a hundred more entries.

George Miller started working on the Mad Max saga when he was 34 years old. 45 years and five films later, the franchise stands on the corpses of a thousand projects it inspired. The shell left behind after the apocalypse could look like anything, but it almost always looks like Mad Max. Miller had Furiosa planned in 2010, intending to film it concurrently with Fury Road. Now that it’s out, Miller seems prepped to launch several more Mad Max sagas, and I sincerely hope he pulls it off.

As another legendary 1970s director named George will tell you, prequels are very hard to make. I don’t feel strongly that Furiosa’s story before the events of Mad Max: Fury Road needed to be told. Not because they aren’t interesting, but because Fury Road handled it in a few shots and lines. We see Max undergo absurd torment, then cut to the brand on Furiosa’s neck to establish a similar experience. Her solo project takes a longer look, following ten-year-old Furiosa from her early days at the Green Place of Many Mothers into the Wasteland. It covers 15 years, the longest Mad Max film in the runtime and narrative chronology. That’s a massive commitment, asking fans to experience a long journey packed with explosions, violence, and booming music. Many films would struggle to sustain energy for that long, but Furiosa keeps every moment alive.

Furiosa leans on classic Mad Max action wrapped around a stellar revenge story. We see Furiosa abducted from her beautiful, verdant home by motorcycle-riding goons. We see the astonishing lengths the Many Mothers will go to to keep their “place of abundance” a secret. The first scene feels like a stripped-down version of Fury Road, as Furiosa’s mom chases the kidnappers across a thousand miles of desert. It is, thankfully, only a preview of what’s to come. As expected, Furiosa is an action masterpiece. It delivers dozens of massive, bold, and absurd visuals to keep you on the edge of your seat. It lacks Fury Road‘s constant momentum, frequently stopping to watch Furiosa master her new surroundings. Despite detours, Furiosa‘s journey is worth taking.

The screaming action set pieces and non-stop vehicle stunts are immaculate. Don’t worry; they nailed the main reason you see a Mad Max movie. Everything else rests on the shoulders of a few performers. Anya Taylor-Joy takes the mantle from Charlize Theron, strapping on the metal arm of one of the last decade’s finest film heroes. Young Alyla Brown portrays Furiosa for the first hour, but the transition is shockingly seamless. Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa is quiet, intense, and vengeance-driven. We watch her grow into the wasteland hero we know and love, but her starting point is fascinating. In her first scene, she’s slicing motorcycle fuel lines and stabbing men in the thigh. Her path involves a sudden loss of agency, followed by several clever moves toward a new life. She’s in constant flux. They stole her life, and she spent more than a decade working to take it back.

In some ways, Furiosa creates new links between the titular hero and Mad Max. Max’s life revolves around driving, running across crazy people, and fighting his way out. He’s an animal struggling to avoid capture. Furiosa has been captured. Her quest in Fury Road was more than 15 years in the making. Her initial captor is Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus, an appropriately gonzo villain. Hemsworth is excellent in this role. He’s the Joker with a bizarre self-aware streak. His swaggering, deceptively clever, Aussie party boy routine gives Hemsworth the most fun he’s had in years. Dementus, who adopts half a dozen nicknames during the runtime, joins Immortan Joe and the other warlords in a Wasteland Game of Thrones. This places Furiosa in the middle, swept along by more powerful forces as she struggles to plant herself. Dementus is the perfect antagonist for this story, even as Joe sticks around.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga isn’t Fury Road, and it doesn’t have to be. It’s an epic, sweeping, gorgeous, imaginative, and moving journey into the dark heart of an excellent character. The performances remain excellent. Every action scene is jaw-dropping. Sure, the first half of the story feels a bit meandering. Some of the events don’t feel like they amount to anything. These minor problems fade away when you take the film as a whole. This is a saga, a full exploration of Furiosa’s life. Furiosa deserves the attention; every glimpse of Miller’s Wasteland is a must-see.