It’s a good thing I did my Mad Max rankings last week (you can read that here) because I was able to make it to Furiosa this weekend. This time, we ventured to our “local” drive-in movie theater for a little outside movie time. I put local in parenthesis because it’s still an hour’s drive, but it’s worth it since it’s a very nice drive-in that is well taken care of. It got a little chilly before the flick’s end, but we had a good time and saw a good movie. But before I go any further, there will be spoilers ahead, so be warned and check out some other reviews here, if you want to wait till later.
Ok, if you’re reading this, you’ve decided to be spoiled, so here we go. “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is the latest Mad Max movie by George Miller, even though Max only appears for a few quick seconds as an on-looker and doesn’t play any major role in this one. Hopefully, you have at least watched “Fury Road” so you know who Furiosa is. Anya Taylor-Joy brings Furiosa back to life taking the reigns from Charlize Theron in the previous outing and does a good job playing the character the same way Theron did.
First, we get quite a bit of a back story of Furiosa as a young child and where she came from. About a third of the movie is this until we see her as the Taylor-Joy version. This is where the story and action pick up the movie gets really good. Not that the first part is bad, it’s just a lingering backstory. She has some great content until she meets up with Dementus again.
Who is Dementus? I’m glad you asked. Dementus is a character played by Chris Hemsworth. He is the leader of a group that travels the wasteland in search of supplies and gas. He gets Furiosa as a young child and keeps her locked away for a while before eventually trading her to Immortan Joe for supplies. Hemsworth does a great job playing this vile villain. Even though he still looks a little like Thor in this role, he has clearly been able to move on and play other parts as well.
The story follows both of them equally. Dementus in his quest to take over Gastown, The Bullet Farm, and the Citadel so he can have power over everything, and Furiosa and her quests to at first get home, then revenge on Dementus, and finally freedom for all which leads to the events of “Fury Road”. Both stories are riveting and keep you pasted to the screen, especially when their stories crisscross each other (like the great battle at the Bullet Farm). They keep having interactions, but Dementus doesn’t figure out who she is until the very end.
As fun as these two stories were to watch, the most pleasant surprise in the whole movie was all of the actors who returned to reprise their roles from “Fury Road”. I honestly couldn’t believe how many there were. I won’t name them all here, but keep your eyes peeled to see how many you can pick out. Not only was it a surprise to me, but it also elevated the movie was well. When watching something like this that already has a cinematic history, it’s nice when the characters can stay congruent from film to film.
So, with all of that in mind, let’s discuss the Furiosa character a little bit. So, I was Intrigued by this movie when it was announced because “Fury Road” left a lot of questions in my mind about where Furiosa had come from and what was her motivation for trying to free the wives. We know what makes Max tick and why he is the way he is, so no need for another one of those. I like these sorts of stories and honestly wouldn’t mind a movie about how Immortan Joe got into power.
Furiosa is focused on trying to get back to her home and getting vengeance for her mom’s terrible death. When she finally catches up to Dementus at the end, there is a fun little storytelling twist that I enjoyed as well. It’s a great blockbuster movie that is even better on a big screen with all the action and car chase scenes. If you read my Mad Max rankings here, then you won’t be surprised to find out that I feel like this will probably end up in second or third place after it has time to settle and I’m able to watch it again.
If you have seen it, what are your initial thoughts on it? Did Taylor-Joy make a good Furiosa? Where do you put this in line with the others? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I will return next week with another Mindless Movie Review of some sort.
