Written by Cameron Geiser

I think I need to build a shrine dedicated to George Miller.

That was the first thought in my head after walking out of my screening of the filmmaker’s latest entry in his post apocalyptic franchise, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Returning to the Wasteland with a prequel of the titular character’s origin, Furiosa takes no quarter when it comes to survival and revenge. While not quite as propulsive as the break-neck momentum of Fury Road, George Miller and company have crafted a revenge epic that builds on the freshest elements of the previous film and expands on that world in great detail. Broken up into chapters and spread across fifteen years, this latest entry in the series would rather build a slow burn pacing that ramps up into a glorious cacophony of action set-pieces filled with inventive new ways to depict vehicular combat in the wasteland.

With much of the production crew and cast returning from Fury Road, the aesthetic, mood, and intensity of that film bleeds into this one seamlessly. With a focus on practical effects and stunts, on location shooting, and sheer kinetic, unblinking, cinematography this film has everything you could want and more from the action adventure genres. The story may be fairly straightforward, but the execution of said story is cinematic brilliance. Furiosa is taken from her home and imprisoned by Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), a Wasteland Warlord with a Biker gang numbering in the dozens, and the rest of the film is spent with Furiosa escaping his grasp and plotting his demise, with the greater focus on survival above all else.

Despite the high expectations, George Miller’s *Furiosa* is a prequel film that was well worth the wait.

Once Dementus and his cohort come across the Citadel and clash with Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and his gang of War Boys, ho boy, do things get crazy. I absolutely LOVE the dynamic between the two villains. They are wildly different characters and the exchange between them and how their relationship evolves was just gleeful perfection. Speaking of Dementus, not only is this Chris Hemsworth’s most satisfying role, but he may be my favorite villain of the entire franchise. Gliding atop his chariot led by three motorcycles with a billowing cape that changes colors across the film, Dementus puts the mad in Mad Max. He truly was a chaotic force to be reckoned with, and by the film’s end I understood the character’s ideology and motivations, he even gets a superb monologue.

The sound design of this film is also outstanding. Furiosa uses the full range of audio from stoic silence to careening cars with roaring combustion engines growling as the hordes of drivers drift and squeal across the desert sands. Junkie XL returns as the composer, and he does not disappoint, reigning in themes from Fury Road while giving this film its own distinct sound. But what about Furiosa herself? Well first of all, we spent far more time with the actress portraying the youngest version of Furiosa, Alyla Browne, than I initially expected. Anya Taylor-Joy doesn’t even appear until about an hour in, but both actresses performed the character with excellent skill. Both relied on acting with their expressive eyes and conveyed very easily understood emotions of anger, hatred, resilience, determination, and a resolve to not become what she hates. Anya Taylor-Joy must have studied Charlize Theron’s Fury Road performance with an impeccable eye for how she moved as that character, how she spoke, and how she would slowly become that fierce woman in the sequel. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two actors portray the same character with such a synchronized link before. I fully believed that Anya Taylor-Joy was Charlize Theron’s Furiosa by the time the credits rolled, the immersion was at peak levels for me personally.

From stellar casting to exemplary production and post-work, *Furiosa* is a carefully constructed action film.

However the aspect of the film that I loved the most was the expansion of world building. Here we get more of a look into how the Wasteland actually operates. There’s the Citadel that’s prominently featured in Fury Road, but also Gas Town, and the Bullet Farm, all called the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fortresses of the Wasteland. We get peeks into Gas Town and the Bullet Farm in Fury Road but here we have entire scenes and sequences taking place in these locations when they were fully operational. In between scenes of Immortan Joe bickering with his two sons, Dementus was out in the wild poking and prodding the systems that keep the Wasteland running, it was all very impressive and satisfying. George Miller has done it again with an altogether different yet deliciously familiar new tale in the Wasteland. This one is highly recommended, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is certainly in the running for the title of best prequel film of all time.

Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.