Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

This weekend, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the newest film in the Mad Max franchise releases in theaters. This movie follows Furiosa through 15 years of her life as she goes on a path of revenge to get back at those who took her from her home. I watched all of the Mad Max films for the first time a few weeks ago so I didn't have a ton of hype for this film but I do like Anya Taylor Joy and Chris Hemsworth so I was interested in how this film was going to go.

Pros

This is a very good movie. It reaches some of the highs of Fury Road while still making something completely different. This movie manages to be a story of epic scale spanning 15 years and manages to do it without feeling overstuffed or too long. This movie is essentially a mix between the original Mad Max film and Fury Road. It has much of the action and effects of Fury Road while also being a very character-driven revenge story like the original Mad Max. This is very much a character study of Furiosa as we get to see her journey through life as she goes from an innocent little girl to a hardened resident of the Wasteland. I think this movie complements Fury Road very well and makes Furiosa a better character in that movie as you now understand her background. Just like all of the other films in the franchise, this movie has great visual effects with tons of stunt work and practical effects and only uses CGI to enhance instead of completely relying on it. Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy are both great in this movie. It was fun to see Chris Hemsworth play a more villainous character and you can tell he just having so much fun going all in with the role. Anya Taylor-Joy does a great job in her role as well. I have seen her in a few other movies, but here she plays someone so different than her normal roles and still does it very well. Furiosa doesn't get much dialogue in the movie, but Anya Taylor-Joy still manages to deliver the emotion and intensity needed just through her facial expressions. Finally, I liked the whole chapter formatting of the movie. I thought it was a very effective way to tell the story with each stage of Furiosa's life being a different chapter in the movie. I think this was probably the best way to handle a movie that spans so much time like this.

There isn't very much I take issue with in this movie. I did think it was a little odd that Anya Taylor-Joy is marketed as the star but then doesn't show up until an hour into the movie. I think they should have added her in sooner. I also thought that Furiosa's relationship with Jack could have been a little more fleshed out.

Overall, this is a fantastic and well-made movie with tons of practical effects and stunt work. This is a very worthy successor to Mad Max: Fury Road.

Score: 9/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: This is a must-see film