George Miller's latest addition to the Mad Max franchise, hit the big screen in 2024 and took everyone back to the post apocalyptic world that was first introduced to the public in the early years, the movie is not perfect but is so close, with Chris Hemsworth giving us a performance that made me forget about Thor. This prequel to 2015's "Mad Max: ”Fury Road” develops around the origin of Imperator Furiosa, the supporting protagonist of the prequel, who took stole the show in the last movie. The film will focus on the younger years of Furiosa, with Anya Taylor Joy playing the character that was once portrayed by Charlize Theron and will show the audience how the character became the strong warrior from Fury Road. Miller is back as the director and co writer of the film, which means it was clear we could expect the same level of action and visually stunning scenes that they have come to know from the director, many do not understand this simple concept of continuation of a formula that is already great and bullet proof proven. The film is divided into five parts and shows the main events in the life of Furiosa, starting from her childhood in the Green Place to her becoming one of the leading characters in the Citadel of Immortan Joe. Having different chapters give the movie proper structure and even though Furiosa gets older during the movie it never felt that time jumps were too drastic, it was just enough to make the audience feel time has gone by. The film also brings in new characters and the main one is Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus, a warlord who becomes a major part of Furiosa’s story, ironically in the madness of this wasteland Dementus makes Immortan Joe look like the good guy.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12037194/
- Platform: AppleTV+
The Story and Structure
A Tale Pace and Chapters
The movie is divided into five acts and each of them describe a particular phase of the life of Furiosa, this structure enables the viewer to watch her progress from a child in the Green Place to the warrior that she slowly starts to develop in a world were she is chase just for been a women. The opening chapter shows the character of Furiosa as a young girl, played by Alyla Browne and living with her mother in the Green Place, this is a rather calm life of her until she is kidnapped by a biker gang headed by Dementus and its here where her adventure begins, a journey through the wasteland. In the course of the film the character of Furiosa is describe to be adjusting to the new environment, trying to make a living in a world where warlords and their armies reign without any opposition. The last few chapters centre on the character of Furiosa in her middle age portrayed by Anya Taylor Joy as she tries to manage the struggle for power between Dementus and Immortan Joe, surviving in the middle of this war this two have been going at each other for some time. This is an approach to the storytelling that makes the film more epic than the other Mad Max movies as it spans through a longer period of time that will make you feell time goes by and have a deeper connection with Furiosa as she goes through this multiple stages of her life, as we see how Furiosa transforms into the character she is in the movie. But this approach also makes the film’s pacing different from what the audience might be used to, it avoid having action sequence one after another and provides a pause for some drama otoo, with more focus on the plot and characters’ relationships between the action scenes.Balancing Action and Character Developmentt
As much as the movie is an action film that brings the best of the franchise, it is not as frenzied as “Fury Road”, as I mention it does not feel the need to constantly be pumping dopamine through the audience brain, it feels more control and struture, the action scenes are not as frequent or as prolonged as in the previous installment; they are strategically placed in the film to mark certain events in the journey of Furiosa, this enables the audience to concentrate on the characters and their interaction with the two factions in motion within the wasteland. We watch Furiosa forge friendships and enemies, at the same time gain the knowledge that will one day turn her into a fearsome warrior. The film also dedicate some time to demonstrate how she learns to function within the Citadel and gradually rises from the rank of a mere worker to that of a valued officer, all this without letting others know she is a women, where she is from, not even her tatto on her arm. Some viewers may find this pacing to be boring as they were probably expecting non stop action but this makes the audience get to know the character and their enviroment, I really enjoy this type of movie as the director shows off way more of his tallent to create a different type of structure different than most action movies. However, when the action sequences are present in the film, they are quite well done and creative, which is something that Miller is good at, making exciting and dynamic action sequences.
The Cast and Performances
In this film, Anya Taylor Joy takes over the role of Furiosa from Charlize Theron and the actress gives an impactful acting that shows the transformation of the character from a scared girl into a warrior. Thanks to the rather small number of lines Taylor Joy has to express Furiosa’s inner conflict and her unbreakable will through her movements and gestures, setting the bar higher for any other sequel where the character shows off. Her portrayal gives us a more wide open view into the development years of this character, showing us the events that shaped her into the badass we know from "Mad Max: Mad Max: Fury Road is considered as one of the best films in the action genre.Chris Hemsworth also plays the part of the main villain, Dementus, which might be seen as a rather questionable decision by the filmmakers as he is most of the time seen playing Thor a more comedy type of character than action itself, from hero to a sadic villain. Hemsworth goes deep into the role and gives us a visually and audibly appealing, yet psychopathical warlord, I can see how a part of the audience would not even recognize him if they are not fans of him but for sure have seen him play Thor in the past. Wearing facial prosthetics, Hemsworth is quite crazy, which complements Furiosa’s more measured personality. This is not the kind of role that Hemsworth has been related to in the past and he does seem to be having a lot of fun portraying such a multi faceted and rather sinister character, just imagine him discovering that the audience enjoy him more as a villain, that would be a drastic carrer change.
The supporting cast enhances the experience of the wasteland, Tom Burke as praetorian Jack is Furiosa’s teacher and Alyla Browne gives a splendid performance as young Furiosa. Burke has the ruthless, quiet and street smart mentor nail down and it is through his encouragement that Furiosa becomes the kick ass warrior she is. Given the fact that Browne is a young actress, she is fully capable of standing her ground in the violent world of Mad Max and set the stage for the further character’s evolution.
Old characters, brought back for this prequel, including Immortan Joe, are consistent with previous portrayals of the character, which is a good thing in the context of the Mad Max franchise, with this attention to detail has effectively ensured that there is a continuity between Furiosa and other films in the series even though this one is a prequel.
Redemption and Survival
This film takes the audience to a world of the struggle for existence which is describe in all its severity and shows what people are ready to undergo in the world without mercy, talk about the caves where people live in at the Citadel, perfect example of no mercy. We watch Furiosa make choices, make concessions and negotiate through a world of self serving warlords, putting her life at risk every day, even taken her arm off intentionally to survive. There is a lot of violence and suffering in the film and the future that it presents is a dark one, but there are moments of warmth and love in the film which make it much more than just a dopamine junky movie. Beside the matter of life and death, power and control are explored as different characters try to dominate over others and take what little is left of the post apocalyptic world, we see this in every other position of warriors within the film, internal problems between the bikers, bikers and Dementus, between Warlords. Furiosa’s journey is tricky and survival, as she learns how to play the game of the power struggle and use her wit and ability to outsmart everyone, including Immortan Jones sons.How It Fits into the Larger Franchise
Connections to "Fury Road"
While it is a complete movie in itself it also lays the groundwork for a number of aspects that are featured in Fury Road, we get to see the birth of such places as the Citadel and Gas Town and get a clearer picture of how the world that is describe in the later film came into being. The movie also goes a long way to explaining why Furiosa was so willing to help the wives in “Fury Road” and why she was so desperate to get them back to the Green Place, she was one of the and "escape" and at the same time is eager to go back home. The film does such a great job at putting out a number of references and easter eggs related to Fury Road that even a regular viewer can spot them, , including the vehicles and the characters such as Immortan Joe, the guitar guy in the background during one of the battles and many others, you can tell how the movie does not leaves behind orphan Fury Road. With recent trends for even two sequel during a year or creating TV series based on movies I don't see how in the future we could not have a Mad Max TV series just as it happen with the Monsterverse very recently that gather all the Godzilla movies and link them through a TV series, imagine that happening with Furiosa expanding even more.
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