If you’re looking for action, that is
The year was 2015, and many of us had not yet learned the real meaning of a “global pandemic”—but that didn’t stop us from lapping up dystopian books and films as if they directly fed our souls. One of the stellar and still-remembered films from that year was Mad Max: Fury Road, which starred Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky.
Now that it’s almost a decade later, we finally have a sequel (really, a prequel) in the form of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Acting as an origin story of the titular character—this time played by Anya Taylor-Joy—we are transported back to the Wasteland.
If you, like me, always wondered why Furiosa even became the trusted Imperator, then Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will answer your questions. We see a younger version of her in the Green Place, picking fruit out of a tree she’s not supposed to climb; she was already stubborn and cutthroat even then. We witness the prosperity she talks about in the 2015 film, the one she promises the wives of Immortan Joe. We finally understand why she was willing to risk everything to help them in the first place. And we know how she earned her skills in the battlefield.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Eager to sabotage the bikes of invading men, Furiosa is captured and kidnapped—which only means that her mother, Mary Jo (Charlee Fraser), pursues the group to get her back. They play cat and mouse across the Wasteland, riding further and further away from the Green Place. Soon enough, Furiosa meets warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and is nicknamed “Little D.” They keep her alive because she knows where the land of food and water is located, but she just won’t fess up.
In Dementus’ attempt to take over the Citadel—you remember it; it’s the one with the waterfall—he ends up exchanging Furiosa for control of Gastown. What follows is another attempted escape by Furiosa, this time from the room that holds Immortan Joe’s wives (she’s clearly being groomed, and she won’t stand for it). Eventually, Furiosa is able to hide herself in anonymity after shaving her head to look like a war boy. But hey, she proves herself capable and eventually finds herself working with Paetorian Jack (Tom Burke), and finding a partner in him.
In what should be Furiosa’s last mission, Jack and his team face off against Dementus. Unable to beat the rogue group and escape, Jack is tortured and killed. But Furiosa cuts off her injured arm to escape, and makes her way back to the Citadel to warn Immortan Joe, his sons and their followers about Dementus. War ensues, with Furiosa now wielding her iconic mechanical hand.
Anya Taylor-Joy is a remarkable actress as always—except that no one can make her look rough and rugged even if their life depended on it. With little to no words uttered in her scenes, Taylor-Joy is still able to deliver the raw anger and need for revenge that pushes Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga forward. Chris Hemsworth is very much what you’d expect; quirky and shirtless and powerful—think of Thor, but a savage.
The story is meaningful, though not groundbreaking. In sacrificing Furiosa’s dialogue, the film barely gives us a glimpse into her psyche. We see her react to what’s happening around her—as she’s passed on from “ruler” to “ruler”—more than anything. She is driven by her desire to return to the Green Place and barely anything else, only temporarily distracted to help the few people who show her kindness.
So does Furiousa: A Mad Max Saga hold a candle to Fury Road? If you’re looking for raw action mixed in with an oddly placed rock concert, the answer is no. If you’re looking for moments of humanity in an apocalyptic world, then no. But if you think it was a bit more of a plot that Fury Road needed, then Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga might fill your hunger.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is showing in theaters now.
Art Alexandra Lara
