Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Furiosa was still a child when she was taken from her home. She grew up surrounded by violence and madness, but she never stopped wanting revenge. In the wasteland, a war is brewing between two armies of brutal dictators, and Furiosa intends to be on the front lines. George Miller returns to a harsh post-apocalyptic world, but in a slightly different way than you might expect. There's still plenty of action, and there are so many ideas in a single scene that other Hollywood blockbusters could live off of it for years. However, this time around there are more complex characters and, above all, a greater effort to immerse yourself in a world full of chaos and discover that it too has its own order. Miller delivers another one of his visually lavish and uncompromising visions, and he knows he can afford not to pander to audiences who expect nothing more than more of what they got last time. (2024-05-22)

A desert adventure for big boys and fiery girls. While the snippets from Fury Road during the closing credits recalled the tank scene from The Last Crusade, what came before was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, missing only Bravestone in a buggy and a flock of aggressive ostriches. But I won’t complain about the special effects, given how charmingly frantic, energetic, rule-free, and playful the details were in the costumes, masks, and auto-moto park (like the cut-outs in Immortan Joe's advisor’s suit, used to stimulate his nipples, or the extension of Tom Burke's real scar above his lip). The finale, where Dementus Hur, without his team but still with a nose covering half of New South Wales, was chatting with his Nemesis, only underscored George Miller's creed that dialogue slows down a film. “Ladies and gentlemen! Start your engines!” (2024-07-26)

George Miller finally gets the opportunity (but unfortunately also for the last time) to capitalize on far greater ambitions than just presenting an action movie with a long journey or a big escape for the fifth time. Not that Furiosa wasn't action-packed; it wasn't just a lot of traveling there, back, and there again, nor merely fleeing wherever the script demands. Instead, everything happens to proper and memorable characters, there are several plot twists hidden in the turns, and the perfectly escalating chase scene serves not as the climax, but as the spice of a suspenseful plot, thrown in front of the audience at just the right moment. The ample doses of bizarreness and hard-nosed supporting characters bothered me just as they did last time, but for the first time, I feel that the saga is speaking to me more deeply than at first glance. (2024-06-20)

After nine years, the spin-off prequel to the fourth installment of the established franchise from a nearly 80-year-old geezer... If it weren't for the Mad Max franchise and the old-timer George Miller, one would have expected a mess. But that series is Mad Max and that old man is the visionary Miller, or once again, a peculiar, lavish, audio-visually polished spectacle, brimming with ideas in literally every scene. My only criticism is that the running time is too (especially in one particular chapter). It teeters on the edge of "more of the same" vs. "more room for characters and world building but not more of the same". Which isn't necessarily a criticism, but a more pronounced lean to one side might not be out of place. Either way, they are just minor details. (2024-05-23)

The story of Furiosa and her anticipated revenge, with more looks into the Citadel, is dramaturgically richer than the endless chase in Fury Road. Despite that, it’s not emotional even in the cruellest scenes and hints of feelings. And mainly it doesn’t have Tom Hardy. However, the character of Furiosa, who since childhood has been shaped by violence, inhumanity and filth, is a strong enough draw, the film’s dynamics are incredible from the opening scene and, together with the visuals and the details contained in them, those insane masks and costumes are absolutely amazing. A filmmaking highlight of scenography and creation of an original fantastical world. But I had trouble fully believing Chris Hemsworth as the demented villain. (2024-06-05)