Furiosa - A Mad Max Saga

I sometimes wonder what the future will look like. Will we live in a future built with so much technology we barely have to do anything ourselves or will it all fall apart that we have to go back to living a life where we are forced to adjust and plant our own food, build our own homes to make a good living while society falls apart? Will the next generation of kids live in a society where we don´t have too much negative diversity between people and they can be respected for who they really are? Unfortunately the real world isn´t looking very good unless we really fight to change it. A lot of people believe that the apocalypse will happen at some point and nothing will ever be the same again. The normal life we used to have and the calm society some people are fortunate to live in will be forever gone and chaos is just a part of our ordinary lives. There are so many stories told of the apocalypse and how it could look. You have classic films such as the 1982 apocalyptic Italian action science fiction film 1990: The Bronx Warriors from legendary director Enzo G. Castellari ( the director of the original The Inglorious Bastards film ), that looks like a combination of the 1979 classic The Warriors combined with Escape From New York. This is a terrible film in some ways but it is entertaining to watch. It has cheesy cool characters, funny dialogue and real early 80´s music included, basically everything you need for a Friday pizza night with cold beers. Plenty of violence and i love the motorcycles with glowing skulls on the front, this is the kind of way you want to look driving around the Bronx. I suggest you pick up the DVD / Blu ray combo release of 1990: The Bronx Warriors from distribution company Blue Underground. This release have some lovely special features included on this release you wont get on the ordinary DVD release.. Speaking of apocalyptic films there are a lot of fans worldwide to the legendary Australian dystopian action film Mad Max from director George Miller. Released in 1979 with a young Mel Gibson in the lead role as Max Rockatansky, this is a great classic action film that not only looks great but also manage to portrait a very dark future. The sequel The Road Warrior is my personal favourite Mad Max film that i can rewatch every year. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is ok but definetely the worst film in the Mad Max franchise. In 2015 legendary director George Miller gave us Mad Max: Fury Road the best action film of that year with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Perhaps the best action film in many years to be honest and is still just as good today. So here we are with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga that is a film focused on the character Furiosa in the Mad Max universe. I know a lot of fans of director George Miller was curious to see what he would do with this character Furiosa, considering this is not an official Mad Max film but belongs within that universe. Is this a action filmt that is almost as good as Mad Maz: Fury Road or is this film nowhere near as good as i was hoping it would be?

Decades after the apocalypse, Australia is a radioactive wasteland and the Green Place of Many Mothers is one of the last remaining areas of fresh water and agriculte. Raiders discover the Green Place while two children, Furiosa ( Alyla Browne ) and Valkyrie ( Dylan Adonis ), are picking peaches. Furiosa is kidnapped by Raiders but manage to signal her mother Mary Jabassa ( Charlee Fraser ). While Furiosa is being taken to the Raiders leader, Dr, Dementus ( Chris Hemsworth ) her mother is following the Raiders all the way to get her back. Her rescue operation doesn´t go as planned and Mary is captured by the Raiders and sacrificed infront of the eyes of Furiosa. Dementus keeps Furiosa as a slave while they scavenging the desert for fuel and supplies. Dementus manage to make a deal with Citadel warlord Immortal Joe ( Lachy Hulme ) that they will arrange supplies for Dr. Dementus and his men if he gets the girl and Smeg ( David Collins ), Dr. Dementus henchman. Furiosa is kept locked inside a vault with other women. One night Furiosa manage to escape while Rictus Erectus ( Nathan Jones ) is fooled by her. Not knowing where she is hiding she manage to hide dressed as a man within the city and just adjust herself doing work as everone else. As time goes by older Furiosa ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) is now a trained warrior and knows how to survive in the wasteland.

Ever since i saw the trailer of this film i was really excited, especially since i have always been a big fan of director Geroge Miller´s films in the past and i especially love the second Mad Max film known as The Road Warrior. Of course i knew that this film would not be about Mad Max so i accepted that, i don´t have a problem if you tell a story from the same universe as another character as long as you do it good. There are several good things to say about Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga that i feel makes this film entertaining to watch, especially if you like these kinds of apocayptic action films. But we also have some details i feel that i need to talk about that definetely felt disappointing for me personally. Let me take a moment and tell you what i felt worked with this film. Actress Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa is definetely the most physcial acting role i have seen her do so far in her career and i think she does a great job with this character. Not only does she manage to do a great physical performance but i also feel that she manage to give another approach of Furiosa as a younger woman compared to Charlize Theron´s performance in Mad Max: Fury Road. I personally prefer Charlize Theron as Furiosa without a doubt, but considering the pressure Anya Taylor-Joy must have felt knowing the Mad Max fan love the franchise and know they want a certain kind of style of George Miller films must have been a difficult challenge for her. Chris Hemsworth as the evil Dr. Dementus is a wild, fun performance that matches this insane world. I don´t know how to describe him but imagine if Boyzone singer Ronan Keating completely lost his mind in the desert being a ladies man, add a big beard, a well builded body and a big self loving personality and you pretty much have Dr. Dementus. There are some really fun action scenes in this film that reminds you of Mad Max: Fury Road and even feel like hints to the past of the Mad Max universe. I also think it´s interesting to find out Furiosa´s background story, how she became the warrior she becomes as an adult. Ok, so here we go regarding things i personally didn´t enjoy about Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. While there was CGI in Mad Max: Fury Road they use it even more in this latest Furiosa film. A problem with that is that some of the action scenes does not feel as effective as they did in Mad Max: Fury Road and this is a very important detail to make this film work. This is still a fun action film without a doubt but compare it to Mad Max: Fury Road but it becomes clear to me that this latest film in the Mad Max universe lacks the same energy and impact as the 2015 film. Some of the side characters are not really that interesting, they make look good by costume design but doesn´t really have much character development. I am fully aware some fans of Furiosa will disagree with me in this review and that´s ok i don´t take it personally, i just feel that Mad Max: Fury Road is a better film on so many levels. With that said i still enjoy Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga for being a fun apocalyptic action film that still show a crazy world with a lot of crazy characters. If you are a fan of the Mad Max franchise or apocalyptic films in general i think you might have a good time with this film. Director Geroge Miller still knows how to make action films in his own unique way and his latest film proves hes not too old to deliver cinema entertainment. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga may not be the best film from director George Miller but it definetely gives you a good time if you love misery, death, destruction and hate, which combined sounds like a perfect marriage to me. A film worth checking out for sure.

Rating: DDD