Before Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne) met Max on the Fury Road she was kidnapped by a warlord named Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and embroiled in a war between the rulers of the Wasteland. This is the legend of Furiosa.
Beginning with Furiosa’s kidnap as a young girl it then chronicles the next fifteen years of her life in the Wasteland as she harbours her hatred for Dementus, Immortan Joe and all those who oppress those who survive in this dystopian world.
Each of George Miller’s Mad Max films to this point have felt like iterations on the legend of Max Rockatansky. Their stories never overtly linked and told in a way that made them feel like a legend that continuously grows with the telling. But following the spectacle that was Fury Road it seems like Miller has found a particular story within that legend that he wants to spend more time with. The story of a young warrior woman named Furiosa and the communities within the Wasteland where she grew up. The result is the first Mad Max film that directly connects to a previous film and one that arguably has more plot than the others put together.
As a means to bookmark and manage this more plot heavy story Miller uses 5 chapter points to segment the story. The first hour of which focuses entirely on the young Furiosa played exceptionally well by Alyla Browne before transitioning to Anya Taylor-Joy for the final 90 minutes. And the word transition here is apt as Taylor-Joy has recently explained in an interview that Miller utilised AI technology to merge her face with the young Browne with the amount of “merging” beginning at roughly 35% and increasing to 85% before the switchover. The result is unnoticeable as digital effects and creates a seamless transition. Both Browne and Taylor-Joy are superb as the warrior woman and sit perfectly alongside Charlize Theron’s original performance.
And then there is the force of nature that is Chris Hemsworth’s performance as Dementus. A huge amount of press has been focused on Furiosa uttering very few words in the film when they should have been focused on just how utterly brilliant the vast amount of words that Dementus utters are. Dementus is a whirlwind of a character and one that is rather more interesting for the fact that he occasionally seems aware of how utterly crazy his actions are. It is just that he seems to accept that to prosper and lead in this world you need to have a very powerful personality. His form of travel is a chariot made of three motorbikes trussed together whilst his garb includes a cape that doubles as a shelter and he even has a lackey who seems to try to play out his speeches in a form of performative acting/dance as he makes them.
Anyone who was intrigued by the world portrayed in Fury Road will also be excited to see this expanded upon. Gas Town and The Bullet Farm which are mentioned as the other great fortresses of the wasteland alongside The Citadel are visited. Whilst the inner workings of Immortan Joe’s cult are shown in greater detail. Miller seems to have hit a vein of creativity that he clearly wants to mine for all the gold it contains. Extravagant character names have always been a must for the Mad Max films but now we also see the complex working society that they live in.
But, do not fear, George Miller has not shied away from the vehicular action that has made his Mad Max films famous. Whilst this may not have the same amount of chase sequences as Fury Road it does have multiple spectacular sequences that will wow every part of you. One particular sequence where a War Rig is attacked by aerial pursuers is so outlandish it would be hard to not see it being considered as one of the greatest action sequences of all time. How Miller and his band of stunt performers were capable of doing something so complex is astonishing. Whilst at the same time it also shows this society have also considered and thought of multiple ways by which they can defend, reinforce and resupply a moving army.
Utterly spectacular in its vision, its lead performances and its unparalleled action sequences.
If you want to read more of my opinions on Mad Max check these out:
Phil the Bear's Film Reviews 
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