‘Furiosa’ Review: A Uniquely Chaotic, Audio-Visual Overload That Stands Apart From ‘Fury Road’
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
Synopsis: 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.
The latest edition to George Miller’s epic franchise is ‘Furiosa,’ which premiered at the 77th international Cannes Film Festival last night. The film’s main cast incudes Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth.
Anya Taylor-Joy plays ‘Furiosa’ — taking over the mantle from Charlize Theron’s badass interpretation from Fury Road, in this younger version of the character.
First and foremost, going in expecting another ‘Fury Road’ already sets you up for failure — though it’s difficult to not compare the two. In this prequel, a young Furiosa sets out on an 18 year quest for revenge against Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), who robbed her of her childhood and mother. This is a huge leap in time scale considering it’s predecessor Fury Road took place over three days.
George Miller, even at 79 years old, has not lost his flare for dazzling imagery and hyper-sensory audio to compliment the chaos on-screen. Even in an auditorium as big as the Grand Théâtre Lumière (Cannes), you can feel each hit in your chest. That being said, some of the ‘chaos’ can grow repetitive and often drag the story. How many times can we see the same vehicle traverse the same dune? And considering we weren’t going to compare with Fury Road — here we go: at least each sequence in Fury Road was entirely unique from one another.
Furiosa’s character is at the forefront throughout, but Anya Taylor-Joy surprisingly doesn’t enter this film until a good chunk of it is already through. Because of this, it could prove to be difficult to grasp on to the older Furiosa, as the young Furiosa, played wonderfully by young actress Alyla Browne, was who we knew from the start, and who the audience latches on to for this journey. The fault here is that we spend almost ‘too much’ time with young Furiosa, which tarnishes any impact the abrupt time jump to Taylor'-Joy’s Furiosa might have had. Alyla Browne was the surprise standout here.
Alyla Browne as Young Furiosa, Courtesy Of Warner Bros.
Regardless, Anya Taylor-Joy conveys so much with her eyes — considering she only had 30 lines of dialogue, it’s essential. This is perhaps the most physical role the actress has ever had. Taylor-Joy makes every injury, wound, and emotion believable and grounded. Through this, we come to sympathize with her, but unfortunately the film runs its course as soon as we do.
Chris Hemsworth is having an absolute blast — and you can tell every time he’s on screen. He’s finally had another rare chance to showcase his talents as an actor, and he certainly excels here. Miller did an excellent job when working with Hemsworth so that his performance didn’t come off as too cartoonish. He’s the right dose of silly, menacing, and reserved.
Chris Hemsworth as Dr. Dementus, Courtesy Of Warner Bros.
An interesting angle this film takes is showing us a ‘tribe vs tribe’ story. All the bad guys want something from each other, yet can’t seem to work together, when all they want to do is survive. Furiosa finds herself caught up in the middle of it, often against her will.
The film finds its footing when Furiosa does: her will to act upon vengeance thrusts the movie into overdrive, and we receive a few wickedly cool action set pieces in the process.
This is an epic film — no question about it. However, it feels like it’s one that will age well over time, and perhaps may not be everyone’s ideal prequel to Fury Road on a first viewing.
It’s one you don’t want to miss in theatres. An audio-visual overload experience that serves as an absolute treat.
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ screened at the Cannes film festival, and is out in Australia on May 23, and in the US and UK on May 24.
Our score: ★★★★
(out of 5 stars)
