Explosive
Summary
Furiosa is a welcome addition to the world of Mad Max with the expected vehicular carnage not disappointing. Chris Hemsworth steals the show as the villain and Anja Taylor-Joy is a perfect replacement for Charlize sounding incredibly like her at various points. It is a little overlong with the odd pacing lag here and there, but Furiosa is still a wild ride.
Plot: Snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.
Review: I read a comment somewhere that the Mad Max films work so well because each one of them is so different from the last which is 100% true; each entry has its own identity but still at their core feel like they take place in the world of Mad Max.
Furiosa is a prequel to Fury Road with Anja Taylor-Joy taking over the role from Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth as the scene stealing villain Dementus. This isn’t as relentlessly paced as Fury Road and it could be argued it’s overlong, but I couldn’t in all conscience say that it doesn’t have some incredible action scenes. George Miller knows how to frame his set-pieces where we get to see all the action clearly and we can always tell who is doing what.
Every moment Chris Hemsworth is on the screen is when the film is at its best and he has become my favourite villain of the franchise; he wasn’t some faceless nightmare like Immortan Joe (who is also in this) but feels like someone who has lost everything and turned to madness. Anja Taylor-Joy doesn’t show up until about an hour into it as the first half has her as a little girl who gets kidnapped by Dementus; he takes her in as his own and wants to know where the land of abundance is.
Prequels always feel a little unnecessary as you know certain things have to happen like Furiosa losing her arm; we knew we were going to get that and we have an idea how the story will end. The finale was a little anti-climactic, but up until then we get monster trucks, explosions and the action highlight involved parachutes which was just jaw dropping.
It’s nice to see Richard Norton back as he was also in Fury Road and there are a few familiar characters who show up throughout.
Tom Holkenborg AKA Junkie XL returns to score the movie and once again he knocks it out of the park bringing back the themes from Fury Road.
Overall, Furiosa isn’t up there with Fury Road in terms of pacing and set-pieces but it certainly has some spectacular moments and Chris Hemsworth is at his best. It’s definitely worth seeing on the big screen as it’s pure old-fashioned spectacle.