Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review - Mad Action, But No Max Entertainment

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga marks George Miller's return to the Mad Max franchise as he brings a prequel to his 2015 mad action classic, Mad Max: Fury Road. You can forget the first three Mad Max movies featuring Mel Gibson, and you can even forget Fury Road in case you are worried about the timelines and characters of Furiosa. Fury Road had some breathtaking and magnificent action set pieces and stunts that blew my mind almost a decade ago. Miller made the best Mad Max movie ever without a hard storyline, and he attempts a similar thing with the prequel, only to fall short by miles. Miller and Miles—what a combination I've found there! Furiosa has some brilliant action blocks that leave you in thrills, but we are used to them since Miller served us the same dish in 2015, which was fresh and new back then. Today, it felt repetitive, and again, the writing dried out in the first half only.A young Furiosa is abducted from her homeland, known as an abundance place, by members of the Horde of the Biker Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). He trades her with Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), the leader of the Citadel, in exchange for food, water, and oil. Years later, Dememtus' people are turned rogue and are on the verge of killing each other due to a shortage of food and oil, and he demands an increase in supply from Joe. Growing up, Furiosa seeks revenge and is trained as a warrior and a soldier by Jack. Will she be able to finish Dementus and save herself from Joe?Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a lengthy revenge saga that feels too stretched in the second half. It was a simple revenge drama, unnecessarily pulled to the point where it became a boring saga. There are flaws. Yes, many of them. One such flaw was Furiosa leaving Dementus hanging on the machine when she could have easily killed him. It takes her the next 30 minutes to repeat a similar attack, and that too without a left hand. That seemed too silly for a revenge drama in 2024. A similar mistake was made in the beginning when young Furiosa returned for her mother as if she were going to save her, abandoning her own mother's orders and plans. Towards the end, we hear about a 40-day war of wasteland, but unfortunately, the screenplay writer and director both did not bother to show us that, which could have been the grandest action sequence in the entire movie. On the positive side, we have terrific action blocks at the pre-climax and pre-interval points that deserve to be seen on a large screen format like IMAX.Anya Taylor-Joy finally appears in the movie after the first hour is over. That's less screen time compared to what Christ has here, and the funny thing is that the movie is titled after her name, Furiosa. Anyway, she was good in her role. It was unlikely to see her in gorgeous and glamorous avatars, but let me tell you, she did look scary enough with the black rubbing on her forehead. Chris Hemsworth plays an antagonist with humor. His English, his accent, his actions, his decisions—everything is somewhat immature, yet he feels dangerous. The make-up was visible in how they wanted to make him look a little different from the actual Chris. Lachy Hulme as Immortal Joe is the most frightening face in Furiosa, and I wish he had more screen space (which wasn't possible because he played the main villain in the sequel). Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, John Howard, Charlee Fraser, Angus Sampson, Jacob Tomuri, Daniel Webber, and others have done pretty okay in the supporting roles.Simon Duggan has provided excellent cinematography for Furiosa: A Mad Max. We see some close angles that take your breath away, while those dusty and speedy chase sequences put your eyes at work by not letting your attention move anywhere. The background score goes too loud in some scenes, but the rest of the time it was pretty good. Furiosa follows a similar set design as Mad Max Fury Road, or rather a little dull comparatively, but it looks lavish and grand. The first frame of Charlee Fraser (Mary), when she rides away to save her daughter, and the camera goes wide and backwards to show us the full picturesque design of an abundance place. The same could have been done during the war sequence, but... they missed it.The visual effects are good, and IMAX viewing is mandatory in order to have a close look at those beautiful visuals. George Miller is widely known for the Mad Max franchise, and he has made it popular globally. Moreover, the Mad Max franchise has given him popularity all over the world. None of his other films are that kind of mad action movie, nor do any of his other films have a similar impact as Mad Max 2 and Fury Road. If you see the pattern, he has made one memorable film and then gone down with the next movie. Fury Road was a peak point, and so Furiosa is, what can I say, a step or two lower than the standard he set for himself and us viewers. He could have made it better, much sharper, faster, and more entertaining. If you are expecting the same magic as Fury Road, then you'll be disappointed. If not, you have a decent watch.