AT THE CINEMA

Anton van Beek, Michael Coldwell and David Gelmini cast a critical eye over the very latest in cinema, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and streaming releases...

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (2024)

★★★★

What a curious road trip George Miller’s Mad Max saga has taken these last 45 years. From 70s exploitation breakout hit, via bighaired 80s blockbuster to criticallylauded fantasy epic, there’s still plenty of juice left in the old tank if this long-awaited prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road is anything to go by.

In the post-apocalyptic Wasteland of Australia, Young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) lives happily in the Green Place of Many Mothers, the last remaining oasis of fresh water and agriculture. But not for long: while foraging for fruit in the forest, she is snatched by a bunch of crazed bikers as a prize offering to their bearded leader, the warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), who, as it turns out, is extremely well-named.

Her mum, Mary (Charlee Fraser), kick ass warrior that she is, bravely attempts a rescue. This being an origin saga of rip-roaring revenge, it’s not giving anything away to reveal that she is terminally thwarted in this by Dementus, who has taken a paternal shine to the young Furiosa. Wrongly believing the girl to be a passive mute, he keeps the orphan at his side as his ‘daughter’ through a series of boisterous scavenging raids until opportunity finally knocks for her to jump ship when Dementus and company try their luck at the Citadel, whichas we saw in Fury Road is commanded by the equally demented masked warrior, Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme taking over from Hugh Keays-Byrne, who passed in 2020). Furiosa grows up in this rocky fortress while hatching her plan to exact exquisite payback from Dementus. Revenge, when it comes, is very sweet indeed.

Despite barely saying a word, Anya Taylor Joy is right on the money as Furiosa (the name being a sly pun on “furious-her,” which probably describes Charlize Theron’s mood when learned she wasn’t cast in this). Taylor Joy does an uncanny version of Theron, but the emotional heart of the movie is really a twohander, with equal kudos going to Alyla Browne, who plays the even younger version so well it’s hard to spot the point of transition (apparently there’s also a bit of CGI going on to blend her face with Taylor-Joy’s). It’s just a shame Theron herself couldn’t have turned up and brought things full circle at the end. You may also feel a bit of a pang of that Mel Gibson isn’t playing Max Rockatansky when the man himself makes his obligatory cameo, but you can’t win ‘em all.

We all know Chris Hemsworth is more than a set of biceps and a cheeky grin, but you should still brace yourself for his excellent star turn as the brutally insecure Dementus. Any lingering thoughts of Asgard will be banished in seconds by this rumbustious performance which is enhanced by a truly facealtering combo of fake nose and teeth. Give those prosthetics a gong – such range!

Hemsworth’s character confirms George Miller’s skill for dramatic lunacy and there’s a healthy strain of Python going on here; with characters with names like “Scrotus!” and “Rictus Erectus!” proudly roaming around, I could have sworn I was watching The Life of Brian. Writers Miller and Nico Lathouris also chunk the story into portentously titled ‘chapters’ which works nicely in a Meaning of Life kind of way. No Mr Creosote though.

The only downside for is the all-enveloping CGI, although your mileage on this issue will vary. Don’t get me wrong, the action, while not quite as relentless as Fury Road’s, is just as exhilarating. Apparently over 200 stunt performers worked on the magnificent War Rig assault scene alone, but you can still tell there’s a lot of more ‘enhancement’ going on than in the previous movie. But at least it’s nowhere near as cartoonishly unreal as the Fast & Furious movies.

Hollywood has been suffering from a selfimposed amnesia of late when it comes to the basics of escapist entertainment, so it’s great to report that this one is done right and delivers the action and emotion in spades, without a creeping agenda at play. We already knew Furiosa was a strong female lead™ from the previous instalment so this rights-of-passage saga feels genuinely earned. It’s not quite up there with Fury Road, but it’s not trying to tell the same story.