Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Movie Review

The Movie: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

The Director: George Miller

The Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne

The Story: The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max.

The Rating: 7 / 10

The Review:

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the greatest action movies of the last decade and maybe of all time so of course George Miller would be digging deeper to come up with more stories in that world and I say as long as the general vibe is the same and the action is on point, he can go on with it as long as he wants. I suppose there's a bit of irony to the end of that statement since going on as long as he wants, the run time is a bloated two hours and 28 minutes, is one of the only issues I have with the movie.

There's an awful lot to tell about Furiosa from being a young girl whose world gets turned inside out all the way to leading up to the events of the previous film and Miller doesn't hold anything back in fleshing it all out. There's definitely a fair amount that could have been cut out or shortened to make this a much leaner and more exciting affair and I'm wondering if the director didn't want to do that a second time around even though Fury Road was such a unanimous success story. 

I feel like the excessive run time is worth noting although still a minor issue because any time we get to spend in this world is going to be enjoyable, it's just a bit of a different experience this time around. I did like seeing a lot of the history being laid out and several key characters return so I was able to play a game of knowing who wasn't in Fury Road so they probably get knocked off before the end of this one. That played out in some cases but not all so it didn't take anything away from the story.

Anya Taylor-Joy can now officially add action star to her resume along with just about every other type of movie she has done. She has proven time and time again that she is not only a brilliant actor but she also has the necessary star power to carry a production of this scale. Pairing her up with Chris Hemsworth as the antagonist was also a great move and it was nice to see him as a bighly effective over the top, semi-comedic type character considering his big swing and miss trying to bring that energy to Thos in Love and Thunder. Sorry, I know we're all trying to forget that movie.

Hemsworth genuinely looks like he's having fun in this role instead of looking like he's trying too hard to make everyone else have fun and that to me is the big difference between the two. The villain he creates for the movie is quite unique, which isn't an easy thing to do these days, yet he also fits perfectly into Miller's post apocalyptic world, and he's just the personality Taylor-Joy needed to play off of and against.

Of course, we're all here for the action right, so how was it? I have to jump on board the common complaint train and say that, especially compared to the raw, textured look of Fury Road, it was a bit glossy and you could tell that CGI was used quite a bit more this time around. Other than that though, it was super fun watching war boys do their thing and just all the general mayhem that set the standard for car chase adventures last time around. Yes, I have to keep comparing this movie to the last one because it's a direct prequel and it has so much of the same DNA built into it, it's impossible not to.

Just having the courage to take on this project considering the wild success and massive acclaim the last movie received, the comparisons are inevitable and it will be easy to judge, so hats off to Miller for giving it a go. I would say this is yet another successful installment in the Mad Max franchise and I'm curious to see if the adventure will move forward or what Miller might have in store next. Either way, I'll be there, ready for glory on my way to Valhalla and wondering if it will be epic.