May 22, 2024
Movie Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Location 
: Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines
Rating:
(5 stars out of 5)
Audience Rating: R
Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke
Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Nick Lathouris
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Run Time: 2h 28m
Premiere Date: May 24, 2024
Country: United States
Surprise Surprise !!!!
From the trailer and the poster, it looked like a cheap commercial opportunistic squeeze on the Mad Max saga. But boy, was I in for a surprise! Sure, the Mad Max theme is there, but it's a level-up in storytelling, in the action choreography and characterization.
Synopsis
Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), then a young girl, was captured by Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and his crew after she saw her mother slaughtered. She grew up in captivity but learned new ways of escaping and climbing up the gangsta ladder with the intense drive to come back home to her origins. On her journey, she met Mad Max.
Acting
Acting was intentionally borderline cartoonish for Dr. Dementus. For Furiosa, immersed in her survival mode and quest for revenge, the mood was always dark and sinister. She was wound up from the start to the end of the movie.
But this movie is not really for great acting. Given the narrative, this is more action and explosion. To put it another way, this movie is actor-proof. You must be particularly good at being a bad actor to ruin this movie.
Cinematography
This is all desert cinematic scope - bright scorching sun amid the chaos and violence.
Costume Design
This could be challenging if you want to present something interesting and new, after the many versions of Mad Max aiming for the same thing. But still, despite nothing refreshingly new from the previous Mad Max (Fury Road), the thrust of the movie was still very strong based on the signature look and feel of the characters.
Critique
The movie seems to ask the question, "From the array of all the Mad Max movies, how do we level up? How do we present something new and refreshing and still be true to the Mad Max theme?" From the underpinnings of mind-numbing explosions, desert expanse, fast vehicles, post-apocalyptic earth, and unwarranted violence, a gripping human story of a girl emerges. She witnessed her mother killed as she was snatched into captivity, growing up filled with revenge and a deep longing to see her home again. Through sheer guts, cunning, and smarts (allure is not one of them), she escapes, rises through the ranks and exacts her revenge.
Ending Thoughts
After the movie, I wanted to see the not-yet-made ***sequel. That was how good the movie was to me. The tension was gripping, the dramatic moments pulled you in, and the revenge was bittersweet.
*** After doing research on Furiosa, I realized that this movie is a prequel. Thus, its sequel already exists and even came before Furiosa. This movie? Mad Max: Road Fury. This movie is so critically acclaimed that it garnered a top 10 movie vote for the year 2015.
--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
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Furiosa Reviews I like:
- David Hudson of Criterion.com
- Tara Bennett of AV Club
- Mubi
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