Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Review

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (TV Series) Review

It is strange seeing Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga being one of the year’s most anticipated films. Mad Max: Fury Road is a movie that was never supposed to exist. Between being a sequel to a seemingly dead franchise, the decades it spent in development, and the mountains of challenges during the actual production, everything screamed disaster from the start. And yet, by some divine (or hellish) miracle, writer/director George Miller created a work of complete and utter genius. He turned what was essentially one long car chase into a masterpiece of audio-visual storytelling; a combination of expansive world-building, thematic resonance, and some of the most incredible action sequences ever filmed.

But most importantly, Miller introduced the world to one of the most instantly iconic heroines of all time in Charlize Theron’s Furiosa. To this day, I call it my favourite film of all time. It’s why I felt equal parts excitement and caution when Miller announced Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel focusing on the heroine’s origins with Anya Taylor-Joy taking over Theron’s role. Trying to recapture lightning in a bottle a second time would be impossible. Instead, with Furiosa, Miller crafted his own weird, wild rendition of Homer’s Odyssey. Despite a few bumps in the road, it’s an ambitious, sprawling epic that works as a great companion to his previous masterpiece.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (TV Series) Review

The story of Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) begins as a child (played for the first hour by Alyla Browne) living among the Vulvalini tribe in the fabled Green Place, a hidden haven of beauty in the midst of the ruthless, post-apocalyptic Wasteland. In the movie’s opening minutes, she is kidnapped by members of the Biker Horde and delivered to the Horde’s charismatic yet psychotic leader, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Although her mother Mary (Charlee Fraser) makes a valiant attempt to rescue her, Dementus recaptures Furiosa and kills Mary in front of her. This would be the catalyst for Furiosa’s 15-year quest in search of revenge, retribution and, hopefully, her return home.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is divided into five separate chapters told over the course of two and a half hours, which in itself is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it allows the story to breathe and allows us to take in more of the world-building and the full breadth of Furiosa’s journey. Once again, the film looks incredible, thanks to Simon Duggan’s cinematography and Colin Gibson’s production design. I found myself really invested in the politics and dynamics between the various Wasteland factions, especially when Dementus’ clashes with Fury Road villain Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme, filling in for the late Hugh Keayes-Byrne) come into play.

“When it comes to the action, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga absolutely delivers on the vehicular mayhem that’s defined the franchise for the last 45 years, with bullets, bodies, and bikes flying in equal measure.”

There’s also a moment where Furiosa forms a kinship with a fellow Imperator, Praetorian Jack (Tom Byrne), which allows for a rare but appreciated moment of tenderness. I also loved the little nods not only to Fury Road, but also to the underrated 2015 Mad Max game. On the other hand, the more deliberate pacing doesn’t always work in its favor. A handful of moments in the second half feel like they could have been cut, which is blasphemous to say when it comes to this franchise.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (TV Series) Review

Don’t get it twisted, though: When it comes to the action, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga absolutely delivers on the vehicular mayhem that’s defined the franchise for the last 45 years, with bullets, bodies, and bikes flying in equal measure. There’s an extended chase sequence halfway through the film involving a War Rig that seemingly exists solely for the 79-year-old Miller to remind us he can still find ways to up the ante from what he did in The Road Warrior and Fury Road.

That said, I’m not completely in love with the glossier, more blatantly digital sheen across all the action. There’s still a lot of amazing practical stunt work on display, and the look does fall in line with the flashier, more fantastical tone Furiosa operates in, but it’s also hard not to compare it to how tactile Fury Road felt in comparison, and in that regard, it falls short, but only slightly.

“…Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is every bit an incredible vision of a master at work.”

One of my biggest concerns going in would be the portrayal of Furiosa herself. Thankfully, both Browne and Taylor-Joy knocked it out of the park. Similar to Max in the other films, Furiosa is a woman of few words, which is hilarious that each main character in the franchise is relegated to having the least to say. Browne shows Furiosa as being immensely resourceful despite witnessing traumatic events.

As she grows up to be a hardened warrior, Taylor-Joy lets her expressive eyes do most of the talking, conveying years of pain and silent rage in just one glare. It also maximizes the impact of the moments she does speak. It’s a reserved performance and gives great context to what we eventually know down the line.

That being said, just like how Furiosa stole Fury Road from Max, Dementus steals every scene he’s in from her, thanks to an unhinged, career-best performance from Chris Hemsworth. Suppose Immortan Joe fashions himself like a Norse god. In that case, Dementus sees himself as a post-apocalyptic Julius Caesar, riding through the Wasteland in a chariot driven with a trio of motorcycles. Hemsworth easily flips between delivering hilariously overconfident soliloquies and outright menace, and every bit of it is captivating.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (TV Series) Review

There are times when his performance feels a bit more scenery-chewing than necessary, but it feels emblematic of the chaos and insanity that is the Wasteland, especially when he tones it down during the little glimpses of backstory we do get from him.

Honestly, I don’t love Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga more than Fury Road, but it would be simply unfair to hold it to the unrealistic standard of “Make a better movie than the one I already consider truly perfect”. Divorced from those expectations and as just a stand-alone experience, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is every bit an incredible vision of a master at work. It’s always hard to get invested in prequels, especially when it comes to a series as nebulous as its continuity as Mad Max. But like the title character, Furiosa succeeds where most fail, almost from sheer force of will. That, and some badass cars.