Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, 2024.
Directed by George Miller
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, and Alyla Browne.
SYNOPSIS:
George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which serves as a prequel to Fury Road that’s focused on Mad Max’s sidekick from the last movie, arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. There’s no Blu-ray included, but you get a code for a digital copy, and the studio put together a solid roster of bonus features that offer a comprehensive look at the making of the film.
I was all-in on Mad Max: Fury Road, which I found to be a kinetic, crazy movie that was one hell of a ride, so I was intrigued when director and writer George Miller decided to expand that post-apocalyptic story world with a prequel focusing on the character Furiosa.
Played by Anya Taylor-Joy this time around, Furiosa is, of course, the centerpiece of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a movie that’s less of an insane thrill ride and more of a character study. And that’s a good thing, since, as Miller points out in one of the bonus features on this 4K Ultra HD disc from Warner Bros., doing the same thing again isn’t as interesting the second time around.
To be sure, there’s plenty of action in this movie, and we get to see a pair of places, Gastown and The Bullet Farm, that were only mentioned in the previous film. But the movie starts small, with Furiosa the child being captured by some hooligans under the control of the crazed warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth, in a great scenery-chewing performance).
She later finds herself in the Citadel, which Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme, taking over the role from the deceased Hugh Keays-Byrne) controls with his sons, Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones) and Scrotus (Josh Herman). Rictus takes a creepy liking to Furiosa, but she manages to get away from him and disguise herself as a young boy within the expendable ranks of the workers in the Citadel.
I’ll admit that one thing that struck me as a bit implausible was how Furiosa could essentially hide in plain sight as she aged into adulthood and became a fierce ally of Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), a Citadel commander who drives its first War Rig. No one wondered where this young woman came from, and how and why they lost track of the little girl who was so important to them because they wanted her to tell them the location of The Green Place where she originally lived?
That didn’t completely derail the movie for me, but it did nag at me a bit as the end credits rolled with clips from the first film. It might not be a big deal for you, though, and, if so, great.
Moving along, Dementus re-enters the story as an opposing force against the Citadel, and he eventually takes over Gastown, which declines under his rule. The desperate situation there sets up not only a war between Dementus and Immortan Joe, but also a final confrontation between Furiosa and Dementus.
As you might imagine, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga looks great in 4K Ultra HD, which isn’t a surprise given its very recent release. I’m not sure what a studio would have to do to botch a Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD edition of a new movie, since there’s no restoration work to do and all the elements likely exist in digital form somewhere. (That comment is limited to major studio releases, mind you, not indie films that may deal with different circumstances.)
There’s no Blu-ray included here, but you do get a code for a digital copy of the film, along with a smattering of extras that add up to a good overall look at the movie. Here’s what you’ll find:
• Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa (57:00): During a time when modern-day making-of documentaries are often just 15- or 20-minute featurettes that skim the surface of the movie, this piece is great. Miller and members of the cast and crew offer their thoughts here, and we get some intriguing insights into the production, such as the way Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth worked with Miller to refine their characters’ climactic confrontation. You get plenty of nods back at previous films in the series along the way.
• Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa (10:19): Unsurprisingly, the title character gets the focus of one of the extras. It will be interesting to see where Miller takes this character, as well as Max Rockatansky, in future films. (Eagle-eyed viewers will notice a little cameo by Max, played here by Ton Hardy’s stunt double.)
• Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus (10:02): In some ways, Dementus feels like Fat Thor, if he had a sadistic streak, but Hemsworth manages to lose himself in the role enough that it’s easy to forget who’s playing the part.
• Furiosa: Stowaway to Nowhere (11:13): The movie is broken into five chapters, each with a title, and this featurette focuses on the action in the “Stowaway” chapter. It’s a classic George Miller action movie scene, and we get a look at the nine months, 200 stunt people, and 197 shots it took to bring it all together. Whew!
• Metal Beasts & Holy Motors (14:42): I’ve never been a big car guy, but I always appreciate the wide variety of props, vehicles, and costumes created for a movie like this one. This featurette looks at the cool vehicles built for this film, with an emphasis on the fact that the creators had to use repurposed parts, just like people in a post-apocalyptic wasteland would have to do.
I’ll close by noting that George Miller has, like he did with Fury Road, created a Black & Chrome edition of Furiosa that will be out next month. I hope to get my hands on that one too for a review.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★
Brad Cook
