CANNES – At the very least, and no matter what your personal opinion of the end result, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is a reminder. A reminder to never, never, ever doubt the brilliance of George Miller’s cinematic eye. Almost 50 years since his feature film debut, the celebrated filmmaker continues to fashion images that find a way to burn themselves in your brain time and time again. It’s no surprise then, that Miller’s visual touch helps elevate his latest endeavor into more than just a prequel to 2015’s landmark achievement, “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
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To be clear, we’re not suggesting that Miller’s overall directing skills are waning. Not at all. A de facto origin story for its title character, “Furiosa” is filled with harrowing action sequences and genuine tension. That’s not easy to pull off when most viewers will be cognizant that our heroine is very much alive and kicking ass in “Fury Road” years later. There is a long list of prequel movies that have failed to even come close to the heights of their predecessors and, trust, “Furiosa” is not one of them (emphasis on “close”).
Miller’s vision is assisted by spirited performances from Anya Taylor-Joy, stepping in for Charlize Theron as the eventual one-armed baddie; Chris Hemsworth, as Dementus, the gang warlord whose name pretty much tells you everything you need to know about him; and Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack, a super-truck designing genius who may be too good a soul to be working for the most powerful warlord on the continent, Immortan Joe (now played in a seamless transition by Lachy Hulme). Tayor-Joy is captivating as a black angel of vengeance and Hemsworth delivers an unexpected soliloquy in the film’s final act which may be the best work of his career. Burke, in a welcome surprise, brings a sensitivity and subtle tonal shift that distrupts the proceedings in the best way possible. There are a number of new characters from the “Mad Max” world introduced in “Furiosa” and Jack’s backstory quickly becomes one you wish the movie had more time to dive into.
If “Fury Road” was an almost straightforward chase narrative, then “Furiosa” is inherently a very different tale. It may begin as an origin story, but Miller and co-screenwriter Nico Lathouris have other ideas to explore. This film is just as fixated on a world where rival warlords scheme and have their minions take each other out over the limited resources of the Wasteland (aka the post-apocalyptic Australian Outback ) than as a justification for Furiosa’s chill demeanor. Oil, ammunition, and produce are as valuable as gold in this future. All three are part of a delicate ecosystem that can hardly survive if a warlord’s insecurities begin to poison their decision making or the balance of power is thrown out of whack.
The adventure begins in the Green Place of Many Mothers, where a very young Furiosa (Alyla Browne), gets caught by one of Dementus’ treacherous biker gang search parties. Furiosa’s mother, Mary Jo (Charlee Fraser) hears her cry (in reality, a whistle) and races after her. In an extended and often inventive sequence, Mary Jo demonstrates that not only is she fearless as a mother who will stop at nothing to get her daughter back, but she’s a skilled markswoman and sly warrior who can more than handle some messy road warriors. Yes, the fearsome abilities Furiosa’s displays as an adult very much ran in the family.
As you might suspect, Furiosa’s mother ultimately fails in her mission and our young heroine finds herself in a literal cage of Dementus’ choosing. She then spends weeks, months, years (the movie’s time jumps are not its strong suit) as a witness to his often overconfident decision-making all the while scheming on how she can enact her revenge on the man who brutally murdered her mother.
Taking some inspiration from a particular Aussie accent and a fake nose that actually works, Hemsworth plays Dementus as a charismatic working-class type whose mad decisions are often of the laissez-faire variety. Dementus doesn’t panic. He cockily expects to win even when he doesn’t (or has no reason to). He’s so brazen you reach a point where you begin to wonder how Miller and Hemsworth could fashion a warlord who makes even Immoten Joe seem, for lack of a better word, reasonable. Granted, these are pretty evil men all around, but at least Joe is smart enough to read the room when he needs to. Like a lucky gambler who can’t miss Dementus is sort of killing it though. That is until he attempts to take The Citadel, Joe’s evergreen tower, which gives the Furiosa an opportunity to escape. That failed attack eventually leads to a business partnership between Dementus and Joe which is tenuous at best.
Pretending to be a boy in order to hide from Joe’s ridiculous adult sons, Furiosa spends her teenage years working the gate of the Citadel. Eventually, she finds herself promoted as part of the convoy teams that exchange those must-have resources between three different fortresses in the Wasteland: The Citadel, Gas-Town, and Bullet Farm. During one memorable run, Jack discovers who Furiosa really is. They forge a romantic connection (well, as much as you can in this cruel world) and begin planning a means to escape back to the Green Place. That is until Dementus’ actions threaten to burn down the entire desert wasteland (if such a thing were possible).
If all this sounds compelling, it is, but there are a few reasons why “Furiosa” doesn’t completely reach the artistic heights of its predecessor. The action sequences are filled with fantastic spectacle and the performances killer, there are simply too many moments that give you pause. “Fury Road” was championed as a cinematic wonder because so many of the stunts and effects were achieved in camera. From almost the first shot of the Green Place the digital compositions and VFX effects in “Furiosa” pop in the worst possible way. The viewer is not supposed to notice them. They should be seamless but are just not up to snuff and stick out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, the last two-thirds of the movie relies more (although not solely) on practical effects and is often so thrilling your memory of those unfortunate distractions may be wiped clean (or perhaps not). Miller and his editing team, Eliot Knapman and Margaret Sixel, deserve absolute kudos for that, at least.
There is also a wee bit of cohesiveness that is missing from the screenplay. Inherently a chase movie, it was hard to find anything that felt superfluous in “Fury Road. But “Furiosa” has more on its plate. And often too much than it needs. Perhaps that should be expected in a story such as this, but it hampers this movie from being something truly special. So much so that it often feels like a film being sucked into conventional moviemaking as opposed to trying to break free of it.
For all of Miller’s auteur prowess, the luxury of a production design team with a larger canvas to build on, and a stunt team who often make the impossible possible, “Furiosa” lives and dies on Taylor-Joy’s shoulders. And that’s a responsibility she has to grab onto almost a third of the way into the movie when her version of the character finally appears. Wisely, she very much makes this her own Furiosa. She may not have the imposing physical stature Theron conveyed on screen the first time around, but her piercing eyes are almost more intimidating. Taylor-Joy also has to convey a tremendous amount of character arc in what is often a non-verbal performance (Miller recently revealed she only has 30 lines in the movie). No surprise, she absolutely kills it. But, miraculously, for a movie that doesn’t seem to leave the door open for further adventures, she’ll teasingly leave you wanting more. [B+/B]
“Furiosa” opens nationwide on May 24.
