Furiosa is the latest installment in the Mad Max film franchise. The last time we saw the world of fire and blood was all the way back in 2015 with Fury Road. Our current near-dystopian world has been in dire need of some cathartic mayhem and insanity that only George Miller can bring to the table, and boy, did he ever.
Furiosa stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular character, alongside Chris Hemsworth as the crazed maniac, Dementus. After being abducted from her home of prosperous wealth by Dementus’ crew, Furiousa must fight tooth and nail to return home, destroy, and avenge all of those fallen who have fallen by Dementus’ hands.
There will be some spoilers ahead, so here is your warning. Furiosa is absolutely a film you need to see, and one for the theaters if that is still possible for you, so I already highly recommend you do so. Toss on your leather jackets, guzzle some gasoline, and get ready to learn a thing or two about violence because today we are talking about Furiosa.
Madness Without Max
At no point leading into this was I worried that this film would suffer without Max, Tom Hardy, or anyone filling in that spot. Matter of fact, Fury Road really only had Max as a catalyst for Furiosa’s story. That was totally fine by me. The Mad Max franchise, to me, is just violence and weird characters with awesome names. How can that not be a winning combination? Fury Road was light on the plot to make room for hand crafted violence, but again, totally fine. That is where Furiosa comes in.
Furiosa balances a steady, and tense, plot with the same level of total insanity one can expect from the Mad Max franchise. From top to bottom this film is unique. If Fury Road was madness then Furiosa was the method.
Furiosa’s Trail of Violence: Plot
Like I mentioned, I truly had no issues with Fury Road having a loose plot, but boy, am I glad there was a direct purpose behind this story happening. A quarter of the way through I was worried the film wrote itself into a predictable corner. While you could surmise what would happen next in each scene, that never stopped anything from being totally wicked and excitingly brutal.
Dementus finds a war boy? Oh, okay so he is just going to go see Immortan Joe now. Immortan Joe just started a war with Dementos via suicide jumper! Dementus is going to take over Gastown to bargain with Immortan Joe. Dementus is killing his own men to keep the facade up and sneak in! Furiosa works for Immortan Joe as a rig driver. She plans to escape Immortan Joe and Dementus with Praetorian Jack, but they are both horribly tortured by Dementus!
Okay, maybe the last one is kind of sad, but in spades there is so much going on in this film. I will admit I did wish they moved on from a young Furiosa to Anya Taylor-Joy for a bit after they killed her mother, but by the end I realized how important everything from that time was.
We are familiar with Immortan Joe at this point, but not the younger and more methodical version of Joe. What mistakes did young Dementus make that ultimately screwed over the already destroyed world? How does Furiosa balance keeping both of these crazed rulers at bay while she also plans her escape? While a lot of these are answered with violence and re-strategizing, the bigger picture is always patience.
Slow Death: Pacing
I mentioned this word before, but a major reason I loved Furiosa was because everything felt methodical. As I watched this in the theater, I could not help, but keep the phrase, “methodical violence” right in my mind. Fury Road was a blistering sandstorm of violence, but Furiosa lied in wait for punishment and chaos. Do not get me wrong, there were a ton of jaw-dropping stunts, visuals, and sequences that further added to the mayhem, but everything is part of a plan for something more extravagant.
Fury Road left The Citadel, turned left, headed to The Green Place, and headed back to The Citadel. That was the entire trajectory of the movie, so, yes, any plot in this universe would be fantastic. Of course, as long as this plot does not take away our sweet, sweet, sweet chaos, then there would be no issue. Luckily for us, Furiosa brings ballistic bedlam along with an engaging story of revenge, usurping thrones, and a slick back and forth war.
Going into this film, of course I wanted the same frenetic pace from Fury Road. However, I think Miller showed that, even when he takes his time with this world and story, the experience is still rewarding.
The Wasteland: World Building
The pacing and story also allowed plenty of room for world building and expansion. If I recall correctly, Fury Road only featured The Citadel and The Wasteland as the only real discernable locations. We met a few of the key characters that Immortan Joe had alliances with, but none of their home turfs were shown. Fortunately we finally got to see Gastown and The Bullet Farm and they are just as epic as they should be.
The film opens with Dementus’ men in a lush green forest, where they end up capturing Furiosa. We also get a glimpse of Furiosa’s home which was full of abundance and wealth. Although they do not spend long in either place, it is still a refreshing glimpse that these places do, or at least, did exist within this world.
Furiosa’s whole goal in Fury Road was to find green, and we hear about it through the people Furiosa meets towards the end and her experiences there. We have to trust everyone’s word and reactions to seeing it not there that it existed. Luckily, Furiosa confirms everything was real, and personally, that makes that moment of Furiosa screaming in the desert hurt way more.
All of this was to say that getting to see more landmark locations helped give this already cruel wasteland an even crueler map. And speaking of cruelty- what kind of discussion on Mad Max be without talking about the violence?
See You in Valhalla: Action
While Furiosa takes a methodical approach to its storytelling, there is nothing laxed about the action sequences here. War Boys are STILL diving onto vehicles with explosives to be witnessed by Immortan Joe. There is STILL a frenetic pace to gunfights, melee attacks, and car chases. I would contest that with the bigger focus on the story, the action hits just a bit harder. Would I say the action is better than Fury Road? Not necessarily. No, because everything is on the same level of creativity and intensity, and it feels organic to this world rather than an attempt to outdo itself.
Everything depends on the scenario. Each sequence takes full advantage of its surroundings . Of course there was a major shootout at Bullet Farm. No, there was no explosion at Gas Town, but Dementus’ plan to get in was for sure a fiery blaze of glory. One of my favorite moments from this entire film was when a War Boy jumps to his death to blow up some of Dementus’ fleet. That moment was rad and scratched something in me I wanted to see done in Fury Road.
Overall I really dug the action in Furiosa. Everything was cool, brutal, nonstop, and effective. Not only is the action tight and cool, but it is also helped by the raging story of revenge on top of it all.
Remnants: Final Notes on Furiosa
There is a lot to love here in Furiosa. If you loved Fury Road then this is absolutely for you. If you did not like Fury Road then you are wrong, but I still think this is worth the watch. Maybe you wanted a better plot from Fury Road. That is totally fine, and reasonable, but I think that is where Furiosa comes in. I will see all Fury Road dislikers in Valhalla, but for those that wanted a bit more, this may be the bit more you were hoping for.
Furiosa is so rad and there is so much I can not stop thinking about. For starters, although hilarious, I think naming a protagonist “Dementus” is the coolest move ever. Speaking of Dementus, the fact that his entire squad rides motorcycles is the sickest thing I have ever seen. There is a moment where we can see everyone in Dementus’ camp headed to The Citadel and it is one of the most glorious shots I have ever seen. It was probably the loudest noise on the planet, but looking at it was a spectacle.
Of everything in this film, the only thing I preferred from Fury Road was the score. Furiosa had a fantastic score that I locked in on, but Fury Road brought that pain. I think if anything, it is once again something to chalk up to the pacing of the film. If your film moves at three million miles an hour, than so will the music. If your movie is building suspense and planting revenge seeds everywhere, then it makes sense to slow things down a bit. Overall, though, I would still say I enjoyed the score a bunch here, but not as much as Fury Road for sure.
Furiosa by George Miller
George Miller is the coolest 80 year old guy on this planet. At 70 years old this man reinvented his own franchise 40 years after its initial release, as well as reinventing handcrafted violence. 9 years later, at 79 years old, Miller takes his time and makes violence awesome again. This guy is so cool!
It should be studied how good Miller is at violence with these two films. Long story short- I enjoyed Furiosa a ton. I do not think I will say I enjoyed Furiosa more than Fury Road, but I did enjoy it as much, and on a different level.
Furiosa is its own beast, and, for sure, an admirable one at that. I will certainly be getting this on physical when it releases and I do not plan to wait for it. This movie is epic, awesome, fun, and an exciting film that is absolutely worth the viewing. I give Furiosa a 9/10. For more reviews on movies and more, check back here at Respect My Region!
