'Furiosa' Review: George Miller Tries to Ride the 'Fury Road' One More Time

It’s been almost ten years since George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road came to theaters and shook us all up. For many, so much has changed about the landscape of life and society that it feels almost like we’ve entered our own Wasteland of sorts. How could anything compare to that heady 2015 world wherein a guy hanging in the air playing guitar and Charlize Theron kicking ass made us all collectively say, “Holy shit?”

Miller’s Furiosa doesn’t seek to reinvent the wheel so much as make an entirely new vehicle for us to work with, forsaking the bombastic power of Fury Road and replacing it with the cinematic equivalent of a Sergio Leone Western. Quiet and contemplative in parts, and operatic in others, with Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth in fine form, Furiosa isn’t on par with Fury Road but crafts another stellar adventure into the Wasteland.

Taking place before the events of Fury Road, we meet Furiosa as a child (fantastically played by Alyla Browne) committing the apocalyptic equivalent of Original Sin: picking fruit from a tree she shouldn’t. She’s abducted and taken to the camp of vicious warlord Dementus (Hemsworth) and held as a hostage. Growing into adulthood, Furiosa (Taylor-Joy) becomes committed to taking revenge on Dementus and everything he took from her.

Furiosa will be lauded as one of the best looking movies of the year, period. Cinematographer Simon Duggan makes the Wasteland look like a barren beauty, with the bright yellow desert sands complementing the bright colored flares that are shot off into the air and the shiny chrome of the cars. Seeing this movie in IMAX is essential — something I don’t say often — simply to take in the full breadth of how the frame is composed. Certain scenes, like Furiosa hiding behind an iron gate while flames spew out around her are simply breathtaking to see.

Miller’s script, co-written with Nick Lathouris, is equally sprawling, comprising several years in Furiosa’s life (and a 2.5 hour runtime). The first 40 minutes are a dizzying array of set-up, with Furiosa living in the Green Place with her mother (and presumably countless others) before she ends up hanging over the seat of a motorbike on her way to Dementus’ camp. From there the audience meets Hemsworth, completely with fake nose and teeth, as the showy leader of a group of hooligans. Furiosa is forced to endure a tragic loss only to have Dementus and his crew meet up with the dreaded Immortan Joe (Lachy Hume). It’s a lot.

Once Immortan Joe is introduced the film slows down in the extreme, turning into a more contemplative film as Furiosa is placed within the Citadel only to end up having to hide under the guise of being a young boy. The lack of speaking from Taylor-Joy, coupled with a lot of discussions about gas disputes and the arrival of Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) can make the audience wonder for a bit more action to liven things up. The start-stop nature of the movie definitely gives off the Leone vibes but every action scene makes things come roaring back to life.

It was always gonna be tough to put another actress in the role of Furiosa after Charlize Theron straight-up dominated the performance. Taylor Joy does well, even though if it still lacks the punch of what Theron brought. Taylor Joy is more quiet and contemplative. You can see the character taking everything in and internalizing it for Fury Road. This isn’t a Furiosa who has been 100% hardened by life yet, but is certainly getting there.

Chris Hemsworth’s role is far showier as Dementus, a buffoonish brute who rocks a parachute cap and has a penchant for dyeing his hair. Using a chariot pulled by autonomous motorcycles — the moment I saw it I loved it — Dementus is an oafish ‘80s villain we’re missing today in the world of villains always having to justify their villainy. He and Furiosa may have once started out as similar people — Dementus carries a teddy bear, allegedly from his “beautiful little ones” — but time has certainly made him unrepentantly awful.

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The biggest critique was easily the score. Composer Tom Holkenborg returns and yet there aren’t those big guitar and drum-heavy musical moments that were found in Fury Road. For at last. the first hour of the movie it’s score-less.

It’s impossible not to compare Furiosa to Fury Road and by that token this does feel more muted. However, on its own merits, Furiosa is utterly astounding in its technical precision, its cinematography and the performances of Taylor Joy and Hemsworth.

Furiosa hits theaters May 24.

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