The Mad Max series leaves Max Rockatansky behind and he is not missed for a second in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. George Miller’s new film tells the backstory of Fury Road and follows big footsteps in the post-apocalyptic irradiated sand of the Australian outback. Instead of parking a Fury Road 2 in front of our feet, it turns 148 minute long action opus with Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth in a different narrative direction.
In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Anya Taylor-Joy burns with a desire for revenge
The story of Mad Max: Fury Road takes place over the course of a few days. The whole film was designed as a chase, as if you were reading (and devouring) a book from the last pages. In Furiosa the previous chapters are opened, which take place over a period of Spread 15 years before the last film. Miller consistently rejects the attempt to recreate his action triumph from 2015.
Check out the trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga:
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Trailer 2 (German) HD
Together with co-author Nico Lathouris, Miller travels back to the young Furiosa, who is kidnapped from her family’s oasis. She falls into the clutches of the warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), who causes terror with a chariot pulled by 3 motorcycles and a horde of biker bros. Dementus lives up to his name and pulls it off with a particularly brutal act Wrath of the little Furiosa on yourself. From now on there is nothing in her head other than the desire for revenge. That’s where Dementus’ conflict with rival warlord Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) comes in handy.
Furiosa’s only weakness has to do with Chris Hemsworth
Which would also sum up the somewhat weaker part of Furiosa. In the first half, we explore with Furiosa the end-time fortresses and their rulers, who exchange raw materials such as water, oil and pistol bullets with each other.
It’s an interesting expansion of the Fury Road vision, but one that essentially multiplies Immortan Joe’s Citadel from the last film without drawing any deeper insights from it. These distractions around the Competition from Dementus and Immortan Joe distract from the essence and that starts with F and ends with uriosa.
Warner Bros.
Chris Hemsworth in Fury Road
This only really becomes noticeable when, after about an hour, Anya Taylor-Joy takes the place of Alyla Browne, who plays the young version of the heroine. In Fury Road, Charlize Theron’s character was brought to life. As if on command, Taylor-Joy’s appearance unleashes an action sequence lasting approximately 15 to 20 minutes in which a tanker truck loaded with cabbages and potatoes drives from A to B.
Anyone who has seen Fury Road knows what George Miller and his team can conjure up with such ingredients. With plenty of chrome plated steel and some admirably moronic action ideas fuels us Furiosa (the film). And also tells the beginnings of a little mentorship and love story between Furiosa (the heroine) and truck driver/Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke).
The second half of the sci-fi film is a magnificent action fireworks display
This meeting gives rise to several heartbreaking chase scenes, because the connection between them is a rarity in this hideous world – a raw material a thousand times more important to the drama than oil, water or bullets.
That’s the main difference between the somewhat slow first half of the film and the great second half. Less the action or the longing for the undisturbed frenzy of Fury Road, but the fact that Immortan Joe and Dementus teach fear as grotesque villains and little more.
But, and that’s the good news: once Anya Taylor-Joy gets behind the wheel, then In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, no one is putting the brakes on anymore. She fuels Furiosa’s revenge story with an energy that could burn down the entire Australian continent.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is part of the program of the Cannes Festival, as part of which this text was created. The film opens in German cinemas on May 23rd.