This review contains spoilers to major plot beats.
George Miller’s junk-yard road thriller series Mad Max turns the focus of the story on a different character in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” with stylistic set pieces and performances that counterbalance each other to complete another banger of a chapter in the Mad Max franchise.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” follows the same structure of all Mad Max films but Miller manages to deliver octane action sequences in a fresh way through the performances of his stars and superb visual effects. The film is completed by the grounded performance of Anya Taylor-Joy who plays Furiosa and the over-the-top performance of Chris Hemsworth as Dementus.
The film follows Furiosa at a young age, after she is stolen from her family as she lived her life in the Green Place. She is delivered to Dementus, the leader of the gang, who tries to convince Furiosa to reveal where her family lives. As she is cleaned and cared for, her mother breaks her out but is chased down and burned alive by Dementus after she refuses to reveal the location of the Green Place. Dementus later sells Furiosa to Immortan Joe, the commanding leader of the Citadel, for water.
The film is a tale of survival motivated by vengeance. As Furiosa grows up, her goal is to survive in order to get a chance to kill the man that took her life away.
Taylor-Joy turns in a quiet performance where she’s able to express her urgency to avenge the death of her mom and her previous life without speaking many words. Restricted from speaking because of her disguised as a man, Taylor-Joy relies on expressions to reveal the nuances of Furiosa’s tale of persistence.
In “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Furiosa is missing her left arm. During the scene that shows how she loses her arm, she is being chased down by Dementus after she attempts to run away with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), the leader of the Citadel army. Her arm has a function that surpaces that of an arm – she tattoos a map to her house on it.
During the chase, Furiosa’s arm gets caught between her car and Dementus’ car. In that moment, she not only loses her arm but she loses her only hope of finding her home. Yet, Taylor-Joy plays the scene as if there are more important things at that moment. Furiosa’s reaction captures her real intentions – kill the man and ruin her life.
Her performance is balanced by Hemsworth’s exaggerated portrayal of the ignorant tyrant of Dementus. As the power-driven gang leader with no hope but plenty of nihilism disguised as ignorance, Hemsworth plays him as a dim-wit also trying to survive using his cynicism to stop anyone in his way.
During the scene that has Furiosa closing in on him, Dementus tells his minions to separate without any care for their safety. Hemsworth delivers a line that underscores his truest intentions, caring for nothing but his own survival.
The reputation of the Mad Max franchise is driven by action sequences that outdo the previous installments. “Mad Max: Fury Road” brought the franchise into the modern era of action films from the cheesy ‘80s. With “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” Miller delivers the typical action sequences through his car chases and shootouts.
Miller manages to give the signature car chases a fresh look by creating new weapons for the gang members to use. But, the action scenes wouldn’t work without the stellar performances of Taylor-Joy, Hemsworth and Burke.
As the summer begins, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” delivers the right notes to start the blockbuster season with a new bombastic installment in the Mad Max franchise.
