Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Because the impression left by Mad Max: Fury Road was so overwhelming, unfolding the time before that story was a tough challenge from the start. Furiosa shows how that one-armed warrior was forged, across roughly fifteen years. It is a long journey of a girl abducted from a lush green land, wandering among the tyrants of the wasteland as she nurtures her revenge. To get to the point, this film is certainly well-made action, but before the high bar its predecessor set, it looks a little short of breath, a work that lands in the place of three and a half stars.

What it’s about — Five chapters tracing a warrior’s origin

Forty-five years after civilization collapsed, the young Furiosa, living in a land of abundance unknown to anyone, is dragged off by Dementus, the leader of a biker horde. Robbed of family and homeland alike, she hardens little by little to survive, moving between the Citadel and Gastown. The film divides this process into several chapters, following step by step how one figure becomes an avatar of revenge. If the predecessor poured everything into a single day’s chase, this time it spreads out the long stretch of time leading up to that day.

Direction — The scale grew but the pacing loosened

George Miller still draws this desolate world better than anyone. Modified vehicles and motorcycles tear across the sand, and enormous sandstorms and aerial chases fill the screen. The long mid-film battle surrounding the war rig in particular clearly proves why this film is a Mad Max. That said, the breathless rhythm of the predecessor’s editing has thinned somewhat. In place of that sense of building tension through events sliced and joined at speed, this time more effort goes into showing things spread out wide. So the scale grew, but the moments that grip your palms in sweat actually decreased.

The color too is much more diluted than the predecessor’s intense contrast, and in some scenes the artificial feel of the computer graphics catches the eye. Since the visceral punch of texture that looks really shot was one of Mad Max’s great weapons, immersion is briefly cut each time that part wavers. Even so, the ambition to widen the world is clear. It shows here and there how the Citadel, Gastown, and the wasteland operate, making this world a notch more three-dimensional.

Performance — Two pillars holding on with eyes over dialogue

Anya Taylor-Joy fills a difficult role with almost no dialogue through gaze and posture. The solidity of a figure who swallows rage inward and bides her time is well alive. That said, it is a letdown that the character barely changes from beginning to end. With few moments revealing pain, fear, or wavering, it is not easy for the audience to enter deeply into her emotion. By contrast, Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus is the most alive character in the film. He plays, as if relishing it, a villain who is both absurd and dangerous, hiding hollowness behind bluster. When he is on screen, the film clearly gains more vitality.

What the film says — The question asked at the end of revenge

Furiosa is a story about how revenge shapes a person. The film quietly asks at the end what remains when a figure robbed of everything survives on nothing but payback as fuel. Furiosa’s fixation on Dementus does not end as simple catharsis; it also reflects the price a survivor of a violent world must pay. That said, since this theme is delivered more through a sequence of events than ripened through the character’s inner change, the resonance is not as deep as the predecessor’s.

Ratings & reception

Its IMDb score is 7.5 out of 10, its Rotten Tomatoes freshness is 90%, and Metacritic is 79 out of 100. By the numbers alone it is a considerably well-received work, and the action, art direction, and Hemsworth’s performance were broadly well rated. At the same time, comparison with the predecessor Fury Road was unavoidable, and there was no small response that it falls short in the tension of the editing and the depth of emotion. The box office did not meet expectations, but voices doubting the work’s polish itself were not loud.

Verdict

Furiosa, taken on its own, is a well-made action blockbuster. It is rich in spectacle, with a vast world, forceful chases, and Hemsworth’s impressive villain. The problem is that the opponent it cannot help being compared to was simply too strong. If you expect the near-perfect rhythm and condensed emotion that Fury Road showed, it feels somewhat loose. The rating is 3.5 stars. Anyone who loves the Mad Max world will enjoy it plenty, but it is a work a step short of taking the predecessor’s place.

Recommended for

• Those who love the Mad Max world and the art direction of the wasteland
• Those who want to see Chris Hemsworth in a different kind of villain role
• Those curious about how the warrior of Fury Road was made