Weekend Watch: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Anya Taylor-Joy is driven by vengeance. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
One of my very few controversial cinematic opinions is that while I admire George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road and respect the technical craft that went into its balletic, chaotic car chases and stunts, and the director’s commitment to the deranged future world he’s created over several films, I never quite got on board with the stripped-down storytelling, nor did I see it as the classic that many have praised it as.
Still, I approached the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, with some trepidation. Fortunately, that while there are some lingering issues with large chunks of the story (such as it is; there is still that familiarity of weirdo dictators struggling for power), I was impressed enough by it that it makes me want to revisit Fury Road.
Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the role of the vengeful, driven Furiosa from Charlize Theron (well, after the first hour, for which she is superbly portrayed by Alyla Browne), and injects the character with the same intensity while hinting at further vulnerability.
She’s an avenging angel, ripped from her beautiful, bountiful patch of paradise hidden among the blasted wasteland of this ruined future Australia, and “adopted” by the charismatic, crazed biker gang leader Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). That in turn brings her into contact with the equally weird, ambitious Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who rules the Citadel, one of the biggest fortresses in the wasteland.
After that opening salvo, full of more dialogue than most Max movies, the film reverts to type, loaded up with exciting, violent action as smoke-spewing war rigs thunder down desert roads and a variety of crazed oddballs do battle. Hemsworth is a delight, wiping thoughts of Thor (even in his funnier, Taika Waititi era) from your mind.
Miller’s work is always bursting with visual imagination and unusual visions, and Furiosa is no different. If you clicked with Fury Road’s vibe, you’ll love this too and if, like me, you weren’t as enthused, this might actually tip the scales in that film’s favour. And if that’s not a sign of a director at the height of his powers (and a prequel that earns its existence), I don’t know what is.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Story is in UK and US cinemas now.