Saturday, 25 May 2024

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Official Australian release date: 23/5/24. Viewed: 25/5/24.
Director: George Miller
Actors: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Lachy Hulme
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: MA

‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ is the prequel to ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, which only seems recent, but actually came out 9 years ago! This film does a great job of adding useful backstory to Furiosa (Alyla Brown when young; Taylor-Joy when a bit older), Immortan Joe (Hulme), his sons Rictus (Jones) & Scrotus (Helman) and how the Wastelands (i.e. western New South Wales) are controlled by three “outposts” - the Citadel, the Bullet-farm, and Gastown. We’re shown how Furiosa is captured by motorbike marauders when young and ends up a slave of Dementus (Hemsworth).

Some good Aussie cameos – David Collins (half of The Umbilical Brothers) as Smeg, Dementus’ grovelling sidekick, Angus Sampson as the “Organic Mechanic”, Tim Rogers as one of Dementus’ goons and John Howard back as the “People Eater”. The film sets up well where Furiosa is from, why she’s so stoic and why she wants to escape the Citadel. It’s also good to see Hemsworth having fun and playing a semi-goofball bad guy, but with a bit of nuance (& a bit of prosthetic nose). Praetorian Jack (Burke) as the war rig driver is also good and has an important part in the final act.  

The main star though, is the car chases/stunts/explosions across the desert backdrop, with lots of motorbikes and cars as always, as well as the introduction of the war rig/semi-trailer and some inventive parachuting. Pretty crazy that this film comes 45 years after the original ‘Mad Max’ and while some if it is of an extreme scale, it’s still quite grounded and simple at it’s core, with not too much noticeable CGI. The pacing and score are good and the ending is fitting.

Overall: Another fun, action-packed outback drive

Gav's Rating: 4 stars

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