As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
Action movies have lost the rare beauty of the aesthetic of Fury Road, and its prequel nine years later now. To revisit the Wasteland is a reminder of George Miller’s impeccable vision, true to his Australian roots, and imaginative and demented at every turn. The beauty of this post-apocalyptic warzone where mankind runs wild, destroying each other for resources, is captured with a canvas-like flare that pops out in every second. Perhaps only the Mad Max franchise can so seamlessly ditch its main character without any concern from audiences, yet Anya Taylor-Joy seamlessly adds to the rich lore of the titular character that Charlize Theron already made so legendary. Her silent pain and rage still never overshadows the character’s likability, but Taylor-Joy always feels perfectly placed in this big and mad world. Speaking of mad, Chris Hemsworth’s dive into villainy makes you ask why he hasn’t taken on more psychopaths before (shoutout to Bad Times at the El Royale). His twisted heartlessness and unleashed behavior makes his character is evil as he is delightful, and the actor nails the long batches of dialogue the character has. Tom Burke is also excellent as Praetorian Jack, a character who will certainly stick out for audiences as an anchor of sorts, whether in a haunting or affectionate way.
The one thing Furiosa lacks that made Mad Max: Fury Road the defining action movie is that pitch-perfect pace, and Furiosa‘s slow build across the character’s life’s events is a stark contrast to that lightning speed. Though the buildup may last long, the action is well worth it, and the structure does anything but play it safe afterwards, making this film more heartbreaking and intimate than the last. The sound is also booming and the body count is joyously high, with the best of Miller’s witty editing and inspired scenarios involving vehicles and large battle settings. There’s not a lot of suspense with certain characters knowing where Fury Road picks up, but it also contextualizes Furiosa’s journey to redemption in the aforementioned film, and is a welcome return to the spectacular world-building that we already love Miller and this franchise for.
