The parable of Mad Max is strange. Starting almost quietly in 1979 with an unknown Mel Gibson as the protagonist, the saga of George Miller he had to wait 30 years in oblivion before consecrating himself definitively and thunderously with Mad Max: Fury Road. A practically perfect film, with an essential plot, visionary design, an excellent cast and an overwhelming technical and sound component. How can we continue Max’s epic at this point?
Miller’s idea was to stop and look back, thinking of a film capable of both give greater depth to the post-apocalyptic Australia of the seriesand to tell the story of the true protagonist of the film which won 6 Oscars in 2016: Furiosa.
It took nine years to put the project together, find the right cast and shoot the two and a half hours of chases, explosions and violence. 148 minutes in which Furiosa goes from being an innocent child, as innocent as someone born in this dystopian future can be, to becoming one of the main allies of Immortan Joe, the frightening leader of the Citadel that we have come to know and fear in Fury Rd.
In this case it is not he who will try to put a spanner in the protagonist’s (studded) wheels, but Dementus, the ambitious leader of a horde of motorcyclists played by Chris Hemsworth. From here a furious back and forth between the two will start which will lead to the status quo of the previous film which, for those who don’t know, is actually chronologically the direct sequel to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s eyes
George Miller evidently likes the protagonist of his Mad Max to speak little. Similar to what Tom Hardy did in Fury Road, too Anya Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa is a taciturn, shy and sulky protagonistvery different from the more open and empathetic heroine we knew.
We therefore needed an actress capable of communicating more with her face, or rather with her eyes, who with her words and choice fell on Anya Taylor-Joy, who also hit the headlines for the series The Queen of Chess, where she had already bewitched everyone with her fascinating gaze. A good choice, given that her eyes are enough to convey anger, disdain, pain, hope.
What was interesting about Chris Hemsworth, however, was his statuesque physique, not the famous beauty of the former God of Thunder, as well as the comic streak shown in the unfortunate Ghostbusters of 2016. His Dementus is a complex, charismatic, shrewd, twisted character. Capable of great cruelty, but also of unexpected sweetness, of great machinations, but also of crazy choices like his name. A good enemy on which to base the chases, action scenes and battles of this first film in the Mad Max saga, it’s a shame that all the tension and his wiles clash with the fact that we know very well how everything will end. Only those lucky enough to see Fury Road after Furiosa will be able, at least for a few moments, to fear that Dementus’ threats will have any impact.
Already knowing how it will end, therefore, the whole story of poor Furiosa loses a bit of bite, despite there being no shortage of over the top moments, as well as some rather gruesome passages.
The most beautiful post-apocalyptic Australia ever
Self From a story point of view, this sequel pays off a bit for being a prequel, sorry for the pun, from the point of view of the setting Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga works perfectly. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve seen Fury Road or not, the discovery of some locations of the logos mentioned in that film will be a pleasant surprise for old and new Mad Max fans. What George Miller does perfectly is connect the dots of his universe, what in Anglophone jargon we would call world building, laying the foundations for a more complex mythology, made up of historical events (the 40 day war), legendary places, well-expressed power relations.
Why is Immortan Joe so revered? What ties you to Gastown? Where is Bullet Farm? Miller gives an answer to all these things, creating a universe as distorted as it is fascinating, full of wonderful views, but above all of scenographic ideas and truly apt means of transport, which sometimes seem to wink at the flying vehicles of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli , while remaining fiercely anchored to the blood and fire universe of Mad Max.
New ones emerge heart-pounding chases, perfectly choreographed and highly spectacular which, in an attempt to respect the grammar of Fury Road, perhaps lose that pinch of heart and guts that had made the first chapter immortal (that is, the sequel… ok, you understand). Does this mean these scenes are boring? Are you hurt? Or that it’s not worth going to the cinema to see the film?
Absolutely not, on the contrary, in a room equipped with a good sound system and a quality screen Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will literally tear you out of your seat, projecting you onto the arid track that connects the Citadel with Gastown and Bullet Farm. Except that it does so intermittently, perhaps also due to a slightly excessive duration or a somewhat anticlimactic ending, in which the epic scenes are sped up to give more space to the dialogues. But these are really small flaws in the brilliant new piece of the Mad Max saga.
Conclusions
Furiosa’s journey into the past is one that must be experienced, especially if you have never seen Mad Max: Fury Road. George Miller’s new effort, in fact, tells, expands and shows the Mad Max universe as never done before and does so with his style of spectacular chases, crazy armored vehicles and lots of action . The real problem, if we want to talk about a problem, is that Fury Road did these things a little better nine years ago, in a more compact and original film. However, there remain almost two and a half hours of great cinema, which captivate, shock and impress like few others. The hope is that we won’t have to wait another 10 years for a film from the Mad Max saga, and perhaps for a video game dedicated to the Road Warrior.
