Movie Review - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Director: George Miller
Genre: Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 148 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke
 
Description: The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max.

Review: “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) was a giant hit, it was my favorite film of that year. And we met Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron in that film. In “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” we see her origin story and she is this time portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy.

How she grows up ina  green oasis, the “green place” to which she tries to return in “Mad Max: Fury Road”. How young Furiosa gets robbed from her family by a bunch of road warriors and ends up with the gang of Dementus (a delightfully unhinged Chris Hemsworth). How she ends up in the Citadel, where Immortan Joe rules the fascist sceptor. How she is taken under the wing of Praetorian Jack. Ans how she eventually becomes a key player in what could be described as a civil war, as Dementus tries to take over Immortan Joe’s empire.

This film is not only an origin story but also a prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road”. The ending flows directly into the opening of Fury Road. The character development Furiosa goes through in Fury Road is given more emotional weight because of the trials she already indures in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”. Her liberation from immortan Joe’s brides is given more gravitas because it turns out she was such a bride herself.

If you have not yet seen “Mad Max: Fury Road”, you should, because “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” might otherwise feel unfinished. If you have, you will enjoy either one of those movies more. “Mad Max: Fury Road” was in my eyes a masterpiece, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” didn’t quite get there, but is was a very needed story to be told.

Rating: 4/ 5