Anya Taylor-Joy plays Furiosa in the Mad Max series [© 2024 Warner Bros. Feature Productions Pty Limited and Domain Pictures, LLC]
Furiosa: Mad Max Saga
Directed by George Miller
Certificate: 15
☆☆☆
please look. We know what’s going to happen, so this new film from the outback of post-apocalyptic Australia is basically a bunch of sun-kissed delinquents driving through the desert in highly impractical vehicles. To say it’s a very long and very intense chase would be an understatement.
Mad Max – That’s what you want and that’s what you get.
One sort of plot focuses on a child named Furiosa who is kidnapped by a gang of desensitized bikers.
They take her away from an Eden-like place and her mother follows her. Not only to get her child back, but also to kill every single one of her bikers to prevent them from revealing the secret location of the rich land.
Warlord Dementus (played by Chris Hemsworth in a Thor-like tidbit) brings up the girl’s story in an attempt to get him to tell her where she came from.
If we live in a chaotic world where civilization has completely collapsed and fossil fuels and other resources are scarce, why did these three warring tribes design the most gas-guzzling vehicles they could find? Is it?
They may look great and be the stars of the movie, but it would have helped entertain audiences if their vision of the future had paid just a little lip service to being a leap of the imagination rather than a galactic leap.
This movie is long. Directors often consider themselves epic in length, but this story could have happily lost an entire act.
And there are a series of plot lines we have to deal with, none of which are substantively explored. Its plot includes Furiosa’s kidnapping and revenge, a three-part war between outlaw groups, the quest for an Eden that has somehow avoided climate collapse, and Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) and truck driver Praetorian Jack. (Tom Burke) and their relationship (which may or may not be love in the wilderness).
Miller gives carrots to the storylines, but they remain in limbo. None of it is really explored or perfected.
it doesn’t matter.
“Mad Max” is a dizzying continuation of the tradition of previous cinematic appearances, and a much more enjoyable take on the end of civilization than darker, more plausible tales like “The Road.” This is the story of
It’s a remarkable production with solid performances across the board, but above all else, the costumes, make-up and sets are stunning.