Movie Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is one of the greatest prequels ever made because it does everything a great prequel should do and does it well. It takes us back in time to give us a more in-depth look at a character we loved in a previous film. It expands the cinematic world in which the previous films took place while also showing us characters and places we’ve already met. It feels unique in its style and approach to the story but fits right in with the previous films and makes you appreciate the franchise more. And, most importantly, it is a masterclass in filmmaking by director George Miller.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga shows us the origins of Imperator Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Furiosa is told through episodic chapters, showing us how Furiosa went from living in the Green Place, a place of trees, water, food, and abundance, to becoming an officer for the powerful ruler of The Wasteland Immortan Joe.

The film starts with Furiosa as a child. She gets kidnapped by the henchmen of Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and despite the efforts of her mother (Charlee Fraser) to take her back, Furiosa is taken by Dementus and his gang. She then accompanies Dementus as he tries to become the leader of The Wasteland by overtaking the main Wasteland resources: the Citadel, which is run by Immortan Joe and has water, Gas Town, which has fuel, and the Bullet Farm, which has ammunition.

That’s the first hour of the film and despite the title of the film, it’s not focused on Furiosa. She barely says anything after the opening thirty minutes where Dementus’s men take her, and doesn’t get too much to do action-wise. This hour focuses mostly on Dementus and his plan to take over The Wasteland. Hemsworth gives the best performance of his career as Dementus, a psychotic, ego-maniacal leader who is equally terrifying and intimidating as he is funny. It’s one of those great performances that utilizes Hemsworth’s superstar qualities while showcasing his ability to disappear into a character.

In the film’s second hour, we jump to grownup Furiosa, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Furiosa is now a soldier for Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and is planning on escaping with the help of Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), a man hired by Immortan Joe to drive the War Rig when doing their trading with the other towns. This hour is where the movie punches it to high gear, featuring several astonishing action sequences so meticulously constructed, shot, and edited, that you can’t fathom how Miller pulled it off. The first War Rig sequence, which finds Furiosa, Jack, and several of Immortan Joe’s War Boys on a huge semi-truck fending off thieves trying to steal their cargo, is one of the best action scenes of the last decade and possibly the signature moment of George Miller’s career as a director.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the most brutal and violent film of the Mad Max series. Miller doesn’t shy away from the harsh nature of The Wasteland, and you feel every bruise, cut, crash, and explosion as if you are in The Wasteland too. This is a revenge tale the likes we haven’t seen since Kill Bill, with Taylor-Joy bringing the ferocity and pain necessary to keep us invested in Furiosa’s story. Her story never takes away from what Theron did in Fury Road, only elevates it and while Fury Road is one of the best movies of the 2000s, what unfolds during Furiosa makes you appreciate that film even more.

I left my screening of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga happy, exhausted, and full of wonder. I was blown away by the masterfully executed action scenes. I was fully invested in the story and the world and I wanted to go back home and rewatch all the previous Mad Max films. And I kept asking myself what kind of mad genius George Miller is to make a movie with these set pieces with this much emotion and doing so with so many practical effects, locations, and on this scale. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is action filmmaking at the highest level and one of the best films of 2024.

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