Through Desolation and Disorder, the Makings of a Post-Apocalyptic Heroine

Anya Taylor-Joy in 
"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Nine years ago, director George Miller brought moviegoers back to the sun-scorched, brutal environments of the Wasteland with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the fourth film in his “Mad Max” series.  With memorable characters, captivating visuals, and car-chases that left you exhausted in the best possible way, this became one of the best and most exhilarating action films of all time.  It was a brilliant, imaginative, and beyond epic return to the world of Max Rockatansky and malevolent marauders, and we couldn’t wait to see how Miller would expand the world further in the next installment.

And, expand it, he does.  However, he doesn’t do so by going forwards, but going backwards.  Now, Miller delves into the history of Furiosa, a character who was introduced in “Fury Road” and played by Charlize Theron.  In “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Miller gives us a detailed, ferocious, and action-packed look into how Furiosa became the resilient protagonist who fired up the screen in the previous film.

As a young girl, Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is kidnapped by the savage Biker Horde leader, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).  When circumstances arise later on that bring her to the Citadel, a fortress ruled by Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), an older Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) soon gains trust with her ruler and rises in his ranks, eventually bringing her on a path for revenge against Dementus.

I’ve never seen a performance from Taylor-Joy that I haven’t liked, so it’s wonderful to see a whole new side to her acting ability, portraying an action heroine who must face-off against a cruel and unforgiving world.  While Taylor-Joy doesn’t appear until about halfway through the movie, she makes up for the wait by coming out in full force during one of the film’s big action set-pieces.  She captivates you right away as an unwaveringly tough fighter who does what she can to survive.  And, with only a few dozen lines of dialogue, she not only captures the spirit of Theron’s Furiosa, but also even sounds more and more like her as the movie goes on.  This is a committed performance that we’ve come to expect from Taylor-Joy, further showing why she continues to impress since her debut in “The Witch” from 2016.

Alyla Browne does superb work when introducing us to Furiosa as a child, giving us a look at the type of person we know she’ll become later on in the film.  Brown shows her character as a girl of resourcefulness and quick thinking, having the audience know that, even when she’s in the most dire of scenarios, Furiosa will find a way to outsmart those who wish her harm.  Just like Taylor-Joy, Browne doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, but instead must rely on her facial expressions to let us know how she absorbs her new environments and how she views others.

Hemsworth gives an intimidating performance that allows him to break the mold left by his tenure as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Just like his terrific performance on 2013’s “Rush,” this is a character that reminds us what Hemsworth is able to do when given the chance to do something that breaks the norm of what we’ve seen him do for most of his career.  It’s work that has him carry a sadistic charisma that not only unsettles you, but also makes you laugh from time to time.  He’s very much in tune with the eccentric nature of this series, and he calibrates his performance into something that very much feels at home in the film’s universe.

In terms of the villains, we also get a return of the terrifying Immortan Joe, with Hulme taking up the mantle of the late Hugh Keays-Byrne, who portrayed the character in “Fury Road.”  Between the movements of his hulking body and a stone-hard stare, Hulme’s able to maintain the menacing nature of Immortan Joe that Keays-Byrne established.  He also presents a perfect opposite to Hemsworth’s antagonistic portrayal, whereby, in a scene between Immortan Joe and Dementus where the two are bargaining, you have the former’s disquieting watchfulness versus Dementus’ comical overconfidence.  It’s a great scene that displays an entertaining dichotomy of these two tyrannical characters.

The screenplay by Miller and Nico Lathouris, who were two of the writers on “Fury Road,” brings a detailed backstory to the breakout character of that film.  Although the narrative drags a little bit in the first hour, it’s still fascinating to watch the pieces fall into place that build up “Fury Road” and to see how Furiosa’s arc feeds into that film.  Between the time we spend with her both as a child and an adult, we get an engaging and thrilling view into one of the most notable characters to come out of modern action movies.  The narrative also spends enough time in each of the main locations of the film, the three fortresses of the Citadel (we actually get more time in here than we did in “Fury Road”), the Bullet Farm, and Gastown, the latter two of which are only briefly seen/mentioned in the previous film.  Through all of this, Miller and Lathouris strike a fine balance of introducing new aspects and fleshing out what we saw in “Fury Road.”

Even 45 years after the original film was released, it’s still impressive how well Miller’s able to build some epic action sequences.  His filmography is made up of some of the best car chases you’ll see on film, and he continues that tradition with “Furiosa.”  It’s clear that this is the type of filmmaking that Miller lives for, once again displaying an abundance of creativity not only when it comes to putting these action scenes together, but also in the visuals concerning the settings that he gives us.  To bring his vision to the screen, Miller recruits the help of cinematographer Simon Duggan, a first-timer to the franchise, just like John Seale was on “Fury Road.”  And, similar to Seale, Duggan shows the fullest capability of lensing Miller’s ideas and working with a scope that captures the daunting nature of the fortresses and the vehicular chaos of the car chases.  

Miller is a filmmaker who always works hard to deliver with this iconic series, and based on what he presents us in “Furiosa,” you’ll certainly want to take this latest chance to be a desert dweller.

Grade: A-