Official Review
Survival of the fittest is the law of the Wasteland, though no Mad Max movie has expressed it as poignantly as Furiosa. Through the capability and strength Miller gives the future imperator, there's no denying she's both mentally and physically equipped for the worst of struggles. Both the confidence Taylor-Joy projects and the way Miller chooses to frame his star – with a focus on her strong, unflinching gaze – give us the sense that she's accustomed to the harsh ways of the new world (even if she longs for the old one she was ripped from). Building on Charlize Theron's quiet, contemplative turn as Furiosa in Fury Road, Taylor-Joy burns as bright as the desert sun in a nearly wordless role. She disappears inside Furiosa, and using the character's sheer willpower she builds a tragically beautiful foundation that's hushed yet powerful. Furiosa's quest to return to the lush oasis of The Green Place of Many Mothers is an epic – and it still feels that way, even though we know from Fury Road that she won't reach her destination. Taylor-Joy's fierce, cunning, and completely gripping performance is up to that task.
Miller's knack for worldbuilding is on full display and gorgeously photographed by The Great Gatsby cinematographer Simon Duggan. He and the director band together to create vibrant and striking imagery that tells Furiosa's story as well as the words in Miller and Nico Lathouris' script. Dementus becomes covered in red flare dust early on, seemingly signifying where his arc is headed. Later, a wig crafted by a young Furiosa becomes stuck on a tree branch during a death-defying escape; Miller holds on the hairpiece as time accelerates around it and the branch grows and blossoms. One lingering shot puts all of the events of Furiosa in perspective alongside Fury Road, tying both films together so seamlessly that the satisfaction of it just melts off the screen.
Junkie XL's rollicking score performs a similar function with its callbacks to the themes of Fury Road; Furiosa elegantly builds tangible links to the other Mad Max films to give us the full scope of the Wasteland and its inhabitants, offering satisfying answers to many burning questions along the way. (If you're an avid fan, you'll know which to anticipate).
That escape scene is one of the many thrilling action sequences that keep this two-and-a-half-hour movie running on all cylinders – the kind of excitement that helps Furiosa dodge the "we all know where this is headed" problems of other prequels. The outrageous stunts of Fury Road set a new standard for action filmmaking, as well as sky-high expectations for any subsequent Mad Max movies, and while Furiosa doesn't outdo its predecessor's wall-to-wall car chases, it's not necessarily trying to. This isn't a Fast & Furious movie – it's not all about one-upping what came before until it becomes a cartoon. Instead, its action is just as effective as Fury Road's, when things ramp up, they bury the needle on the speedometer. What did we say about Mad Max: Fury Road?
One of the five "chapters" of the story is entirely dedicated to a rip-roaring fight on wheels that gives us a front-row view of Furiosa's determination and focus. Taylor-Joy is utterly transfixing in this scene, and even knowing that her character will survive both the fight and the film, there's still a sense of peril as she clings to the undercarriage of a giant war rig. This chapter, and much of the rest of Furiosa, doesn't let you out of the chokehold until the drivers hit the brakes.
Later, when the rivalry between Dementus and his fellow warlord Immortan Joe escalates, Miller finds shocking new ways to depict the conflict. When they squabble, it's their many followers who do the fighting (again sidestepping the fact that we know Joe will live to see Fury Road). The practical staging and visual effects of a high-octane ambush in Dementus' territory – and a raid on Joe's turf – work in tandem to create a bold, distinctly Mad Max spectacle. Cars and trucks savagely barrel down the blockades of a fortress, structures crumble underneath running feet, and gunshots whiz by at practically every moment. Miller is still moving as fast as ever, and it's exhilarating to be in his passenger seat.
The biggest surprise up the director's sleeve: Despite all its violence – the man quartered by revving motorbikes, the woman tortured at the stake – the driving force of Furiosa is love. The protagonist yearning for her motherland, her unexpected connection with Praetorian Jack, even Dementus' impulses to rule as he does all spring from a vast emotional landscape. With that, Miller expertly shows us that when we fight for love, we must be prepared for the side effects and consequences. For Dementus and Immortan Joe it's the thirst for power; for Furiosa, it's the shedding of who she knows herself to be.
Toward the end, when we're well acquainted with all that's plagued Furiosa, one character speaks of her with reverence: "That is the darkest of angels, the fifth rider of the apocalypse." Thanks to this film, we now know how and why Furiosa was forced to become the show-stealer we meet in Fury Road. The miracle here is that Miller and his team have packed in enough eye-popping derring-do, captivating acting, and, yes, heart, to make the next step in her journey feel almost incidental. It helps that they've done so much to integrate Furiosa into the larger Mad Max saga. But this is a triumph with enough gut and gumption to stand entirely on its own.
Verdict
It's hard to overstate how immaculately crafted Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is, both as a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road and as a stand-alone story of how the Wasteland created a powerful character. With a ferocious and savage heart, George Miller's film takes flight into epic status. Weaving together top-notch worldbuilding, an emotionally resonant directorial eye, searing performances, sharp cinematography, and a hell-raising score, this is a remarkable hero's journey punctuated by incredible action scenes and an utterly stunning reflection on life and love prevailing beyond the fall of civilization. Maybe Hideo Kojima said it best: "George Miller is my God, and the Saga he tells is my Bible." Witness it.
