Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), directed by George Miller, stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Brown, Lachy Hulme, George Shevtsov, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, David Field, Rahel Romahn, and many others. The film is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) that focuses on the character of Furiosa (originally portrayed by Charlize Theron). As a child, Furisoa (Taylor-Joy & Brown) is stolen from her home and forced to act as the surrogate daughter for a charming but maniacal warlord named Dementus (Hemsworth). Furiosa is forced to witness the savage brutality of Dementus’ tribe, instilling in her a thirst for justice/revenge. In his efforts to rule the wasteland and its few precious resources, Dementus trades the young Furiosa to another warlord named Imoten Joe (Lachy Hulme). In order to escape a future as one of Imoten Joe’s “wives,” Furiosa shaves her head and begins to pose as one of his soldiers instead, planning to steal a vehicle and return home. To learn the skills needed to survive alone in the wasteland, Furiosa teams up with a driver named Praetorian Jack (Burke) who quickly takes her under his wing due to her clear bravery and skill. But when Furiosa once again crosses paths with Dementus, it reignites her thirst for vengeance, setting her on a dangerous path where she must use only her cunning wit to survive.

Both Alyla Brown and Anya Taylor-Joy give strong performances as Furiosa, Joy emulating Theron’s iconic voice and stare perfectly. She’s really strong in the role, but I couldn’t get past the fact that she looks smaller than a 10-year-old child. This character is meant to be a bit undersized, but Joy is so small that it is almost laughable in how unrealistic some of her character’s physical achievements are. Brown has almost no dialogue in her scenes a child Furiosa, but impressively adds a lot of emotion through her physical performance alone.

Chris Hemsworth shows a lot of impressive range as Dementus, resulting in a character whose emotional instability provides a lot of unpredictability as well as demented fun. The disappointing thing is that this villain disappears for a good chunk during the middle of the film, going through an implied arc that happens mostly off-screen. It is a bit jarring when the character returns as the main antagonist in the third act. This speaks to one of the film’s larger issues which has to do with its pacing. 

Furiosa is a large departure from its predecessor in the sense that it’s a much more epic and expansive story. Fury Road is extremely focused and contained, resulting in a film that flies by. Furiosa trades that relentless and exciting pace for a one that leaves the film with room for deeper expansions of the universe’s history/lore. Yes, this pace is a bit less impressive than Fury Road, but it achieves a lot more in terms of scale. 

The editing here is unfortunately a mixed bag. The film feels oddly unbalanced in terms of its focus on important/meaningful moments. Big moments are cut away from early while smaller moments are drawn out to the point of boredom. This doesn’t happen often, but there are a few specific moments that stand out enough to mention it.

The film’s biggest strength is that it carries over the creative and jaw-dropping action from Fury Road. In certain sequences, I would even argue that it tops that film in a lot of ways. The only issue is that the CGI is a noticeable step down from Fury Road. That being said, it still tops 95% of blockbusters released today. 

Overall, this is a fun, original, and exciting addition to the Mad Max franchise that expands the universe in a way that this series has been begging for. It also archives the unlikely in mostly avoiding the inherent disappointment that prequels often spawn. The performances are strong, the world is interesting, and the action sequences kick some major ass. If you enjoyed Fury Road, I can’t see you disliking this film in any major way. Just make sure you hit the bathroom before your showing. B+