Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead
Plot: The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and team-up with Mad Max.
Rough day?
Review: There are post-apocalyptic worlds and there's the PA world of Mad Max. George Miller gorgeously expands on his world built of sand, blood and brutality with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel to Fury Road where audiences were introduced to the badass one-armed Furiosa then played by Charlize Theron. Portraying a younger version of the character for most of the runtime now is Anya Taylor-Joy whose large expressive eyes and seething fury more than makes up for her lack of dialogue.
Lots of movies throw around the word "saga" but none more deserved of the title than this one. Miller amps up everything here with more death-defying stunts, more jaw-dropping action sequences and a world that is somehow both the coolest and the last place you would ever want to visit. This time around the focus is on Furiosa with her story being told in five chapters, each more intense than the next. We start off seeing her as a young girl (played by Alyla Browne) living in the only place of abundance left in this world called The Green Place. When a biker gang comes in to forage the area young Furiosa does what kids do and, in the process, makes the worst mistake of her life, leading to her capture and her introduction to Dementus, the gang's leader and Chris Hemsworth in his most memorable role outside of a Marvel movie. Seriously, Hemsworth is magnificent as Dementus (even with the ridiculous prosthetic nose) a man who lives up to his name; he's a mix of politician, tyrant, despot and, in his own way, father. His interactions with Furiosa leads to a decades-long quest for vengeance as she grows into a warrior worthy of such a badass name.
What do you mean you didn't love Love and Thunder?
Like Fury Road, Furiosa is a visual tale that could easily be enjoyed with zero audio. Every single frame of this movie catches your eye making the lack of heavy dialogue a non-issue. I would also rank this as one of the best prequels ever made as while we know where Furiosa ends up, at no point is the story predictable. Miller's storytelling is so seamless here I didn't even realise Anya Taylor-Joy's Furiosa doesn't show up until an hour into the story! Her introduction is of course a worthy one with a chase sequence across the wasteland that also serves to introduce us to Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke, shout out to all the Strike fans out there). Jack can almost be counted as a stand-in for Max, but his true purpose is to show us the heart of Furiosa as well as being the man who helps complete her "lessons" in survival.
To say more would be to spoil a movie that's most deserved of being seen on the biggest screen and with the best sound system you can find. My only complaint would be with the frame rate in some of the shots that lead to characters being unnaturally sped up; I couldn't help but find it a bit cartoonish. Otherwise, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga easily takes the title of best prequel made in years and I can't wait to sit down and take it all in again and again.
Sommer's Score: 8.5 out of 10
And you can check out more reviews from Robot Mango Reviews below:
WHAT A LOVELY FRANCHISE! ALL 4 MAD MAX FILMS RANKED
EDGAR WRIGHT'S 'LAST NIGHT IN SOHO' HAUNTS THE 60S
LOVE AND THUNDER: GRAND SPECTACLE BUT JOKE OVERLOAD
ATLAS SHOULDERS A DERIVATIVE SCI FI WORLD
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I'll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More
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