Australian director George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga traces the origin story of the hit Mad Max: Fury Road’s heroine, Imperator Furiosa (with Anya Taylor-Joy in the role originated by Charlize Theron). Even though Max only appears for a brief cameo, this is a superior prequel that delivers everything viewers expect from the Mad Max series.
Decades after apocalyptic world wars, young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) lives in the Green Place of Many Mothers, a Shangri-La-like oasis within a vast desert. She gets snatched by scavenging bikers and taken to their barbarian leader, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) as proof of this “Place of Abundance” where food and water abound. Her mother (Charlee Fraser) bravely tries to rescue Furiosa but is caught, tortured, and slaughtered in front of her daughter.
Dementus raises Furiosa as his surrogate child, hoping to eventually discover her homeland’s location, while he jockeys for power among the other warlords who rule the wasteland’s three fortresses. Furiosa cunningly gets adopted by the powerful Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who grooms her for his harem. She escapes, disguises herself as a worker boy, and gradually reemerges to become, with the friendly Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), an indispensable driver for Immortan Joe. As Dementus tangles with the warlords, Furiosa (Taylor-Joy) patiently awaits an opportunity for revenge.
Furiosa skillfully combines the Mad Max movies’ most successful elements: breakneck chases, breathtaking stunts, bizarre villains, and—most importantly—a mythic quality. Fully enjoying Furiosa’s fundamental implausibility requires significant suspension of disbelief. For starters, with gasoline so rare, why is everybody burning through it so quickly?
But this isn’t cinema vérité: It’s a pulp allegory. Within Furiosa’s outlandish structure lies a highly engaging story of revenge and survival with a deeply sympathetic heroine. Throughout the film, Furiosa is street smart, resourceful, and relentless in countless winning ways. This indomitable female Buster Keaton stoically overcomes whatever catastrophe is thrown at her and emerges victorious.
Taylor-Joy is good, as is Burke as the genial Jack. As Dementus, Hemsworth is a worthy successor to Miller’s previous eccentric heavies: vile and deadly, but comically pompous and pretentious. It’s clear that Hemsworth, as well as other key actors, relish their roles. When portraying characters with names like Rictus Erectus, what actors wouldn’t?
Furiosa’s pacing and characterization far excel that of Fury Road. In Miller’s initial Mad Max films, occasional laconic passages between the hyper-kinetic chases allowed the audience to get acquainted with the characters. But Fury Road’s visual overkill was like an already fast-paced movie stuck in fast-forward. Fury Road felt like being dragged behind a vehicle going way too fast, while Furiosa is like riding shotgun in an ace driver’s souped-up dragster.
The tatterdemalion costumes and production design are excellent, especially considering the film’s vast scope and huge cast. The characters’ off-the-wall wardrobe crafted from a patchwork of scavenged knickknacks provides constant visual stimulation.
Furiosa’s many visual effects also blend well with the actual practical footage, but the film’s brightest stars are its stunt performers, whose no-holds-barred energy and expertise with everything from parachutes to flamethrowers is dazzling.
At 79, Miller has created an action powerhouse that would give younger directors a coronary. He masterfully orchestrates barbarian hordes—hell-bent on stealing more gasoline or sacks of potatoes—and reminds us that no living filmmaker does life after Doomsday as deftly as Miller.