Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

You want it or not, a comparation with the old movie is automatic. The first thing that comes to mind is that it kinda drags the story. It lacks the flow of the previous. The main villan is unconvincing and I found myself many times not understanging how to categorise him. Is evil without a clear motive, powerful without convincing greatness. You don't know if you want to love him or not.

The actions scenes are ok, but no moment where I would thing it's something epic worthy. At times almost too much of the same.

Maybe the main problem was the script, neglected in the face of the many action scenes paired with fancy camera movement. The plot was ok, but it lacked a smarter way of putting it on the screen.

Max Mad fan here, I would rate previous movies: Mad Max around a 6, Road Warrior 8 Thunder Dome 7 Fury Road 9 and speaking of Fury Road....

This is unfortunately a pale comparison to Fury Road. The look is off everything from camerawork to editing to the costumes to vehicles to action scenes. Loads of bad CGI replaces the high octane realistic crazy stunts and motor mayhem from fury road. It all looks shot in a studio with fake everything. Big drop in quality and a sense of realism.

It's sad to see that Miller has settled for the studio instead of real vehicles in real environments with neck breaking stunts. Both clothes and vehicles just looks very designed now as well instead of a somewhat believable mishmash of what can be found in the wastelands. It's also a-lot cleaner in every way, vehicles look shiny and newly made. It just feels more censored and less naked and rough.

The story surprises nobody and is pretty much exactly what you expect. Void from a lot of the epic action scenes you might have to expect after fury road. You get some decent action but Fury Road is the gold standard here and this is not even close. Look and feels more like a cookie cutter action movie set in the Mad Max universe. Had I have to guess without knowing it I would never have guessed that Miller directed this. The world building is cool though and you get more of the cool world of Mad Max so that is a big plus.

Actors do a decent to a good job all around.

Immortan Joe is not impressed.

MEDIOCRE!!!

Let me start off by saying this, if you enjoyed the last movie, you'll probably get a good time out of this one. That being said, it's night and day when you compare the two. I'm a huge fan of the last one, the spectacle and action make it one of the best films of all time imo, and it's clear they tried to recreate that with this movie, but for me it falls flat. Most, if not all, action sequences are all CGI, it's good CGI, but you can absolutely tell it's CG. There are lots of times in the movie where it straight up just looks out of a video game. I get where this comes from, the shots they go for are definitely a bit more ambitious, but it's lacking the chunky and gritty realism of the last film. The action can seem floaty and overly ragdolly at times because of this. Regardless, this isn't my biggest complaint with the movie, my biggest is the story. There are times when things just happen for no good reason at all, in an effort to avoid spoilers, I won't list them, but they are painstakingly obvious. For example, an integral character gets killed and it seems to be of zero consequence to one of the characters, even though the movie spends some time trying this half baked romance. I also just couldn't get into Anya Taylor-Joy as furiousa, maybe it's just a me thing, but she just doesn't really fit the gritty role she's meant to play. Chis Hemsworth is a standout performance though, although I do think, again, the writing for his character is a bit garbage. Regardless, this is a fun movie, lots of cool action shots, and pretty good if you have no preconceptions and expectations stemming from the last movie.

For crying out loud, what do you want?

From criticism of Mad Max Fury Road for having too little story to its sequel for having too much. Make up your mind!

Each of the Mad Max films is different and an evolution from the last. Mad Max was the raw punk album. The Road Warrior was the more commercial, difficult to pull off second album. Thunderdome was the more accessible but toned-down third album that forces the band into a hiatus. Fury Road is the lauded reunion album with the new lead singer. Furiosa is the experimental album and the accumulation of everything so far into an epic opera.

Both actresses playing Furiosa are perfectly cast, the younger particularly. The surrounding characters are as grotesque and over-the-top as you would expect from this series. The acting likewise. These films are never subtle and that is part of their appeal. The design is as magnificent as the world-building, and its look is (for the most part) superb. I adore the colour palette. The music may not be quite as memorable as Fury Road, but certainly was not a distraction.

Now, the action may not have the same kinetic energy or frenetic insanity as Fury Road, but the nature of the story does not lend itself to this. The story spans many years and is episodic by design. It is an origin story rather than a road movie. Perhaps the more obvious and extensive use of CGI distracts slightly from the physicality of the action sequences but they are no less epic.

Suffice to say, I loved it. I appreciated the differences between Furiosa and Fury Road as much as its evolution within the same universe. I will take any offer of further time in Max and Furiosa's apocalypse on the condition that Miller either directs or has a hand in its development.

And yes, Furiosa IS a Mad Max movie and, contrary to some reviews here, Max does appear in the film, albeit fleetingly.

Furiosa is not Fury Road and is all the better for it. They are both remarkable works of movie art in their own right in my opinion.

More please.

Furiosa would be easier to watch if Fury Road never happened. After the incredible cinematography magic that genius John Seale weaved, Furiosa felt just like some lacklustre adaptation of a far superior source material.

Only thing I found charming was the overall 80's feel, resembling the style of a Road Warrior, and some scenes feel like they were recreated straight from the original trilogy. While action sequences are, as expected, top notch, the epic sense of awe and sheer crazy excitement that ludicrous stunts and choreography brought us in Fury Road was lacking. Editing was sometimes atrocious. Even in the best action or "poignant" scenes this movie had to offer, I never felt that I'm watching it from the edge of my seat, nor did I get emotionally involved with any of characters.

Speaking of which, acting was fairly wooden, lines declamatory delivered, the script overall seemed recycled and overly done, bordering on boring. Storytelling was chaotic, rushed and dragged at the same time. Sometimes the unnecessary narrator helped things to move along, unfortunately in a bad way.

But the major flaw was that there was no hero's journey for any of characters. Furiosa is the same person at the beginning as she is at the end of a movie, same as Dementus. Remember Nux and his journey? There is nothing like it in Furiosa. Furthermore, Furiosa endures every hardship with the same fierce look in her eyes - we never see pain, never fear, never doubt. She shrugs any injury off, like a terminator. It was hard to get emotionally involved with her character. Unfortunately, she came across as a classic girl boss, amazing in everything she does from the start to the finish, as a kid, and as an adult. Relationship between Furiosa and Praetorian Jack is so robotic and unemotional it's painful to watch. Dementus's monologue at the end was a snoozefest. All in all, I witnessed it, and found it mediocre.