Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: the film review

Almost ten years have passed since the premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road, the dazzling action masterpiece of George Milleran explosion of special effects that, it was hoped at the time, would inspire a new era of auteur blockbuster. Unfortunately this was not the case, and therefore Miller returned to offer us another work. Furiouswhich premiered at Cannes Film Festival on May 15, is one story that tells the origins of the title character, and which sets the stage for the epilogue of Fury Road.

THE prequel they are rarely a source of inspiration. There suspense it is dulled by familiarity; side stories too often fit awkwardly with what came before (but happens after). The studios' misjudgment is that the public will want to know more and more about a character characterized just right so as not to extinguish curiosity: certainly we all want a detailed story on how Furiosa became a formidable lieutenant in a lord's army of the wasteland war. As far as I'm concerned, however, I didn't, I didn't have this desire. Difficult to shake off the initial skepticism when Furious slowly comes into action.

The film begins with a young Furiosa (Alyla Brown) who lives in a paradise lush, one matriarchal society hidden from the gangs armed with guns and petrol who roam the desert and beyond. (The place is so beautiful you wonder why anyone who lives there would give their daughter such a bellicose name like Furiosa, which I always thought was a nom de guerre.) As we know, because it was mentioned in Fury Road, Furiosa is torn from her community and made a pawn in the tribal wars of men fighting for resources. Hers. His tragedy it's the beginning of our adventure.

Furiosa finds herself in the unfortunate company of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), the vain leader of a motorcycle gang who moves on a cart pulled by three motorcycles. Dementus sees Furiosa as a prize, his protégé and bargaining chip in his campaign against the rivals who control what remains of civilization. And so we are reintroduced to the villain of Fury RoadImmortan Joe (now played by Lachy Hulme), fearsome tyrant of the Citadel, who uses its water supplies to grow crops that are exchanged for bullets (in the Bullet Farm) and fuel (in Gastown). Because we have seen Fury Roadwe know that Furiosa will eventually fall under Joe's command and subsequently flee from him.

This is the ballast of the film: it is difficult to be surprising or agile from a narrative point of view when everyone knows what is going to happen. Miller must therefore rely on his sets to raise the temperature, to make this whole race towards destiny worth living. Once the policies regarding food, fuel and weapons are put in order, Furious he starts the engines and chases the grandeur of his predecessor.

It doesn't reach it, but it gets close enough to allow us to see the rear lights in the distance Fury Rd. Furiouswith its darting motorbikes and paragliders that rain fire from the sky, works best at maximum speed. When the film comes to life, about halfway through, its cacophony of machinery proves electrifying. And, in his own way, strangely comforting too: ah, yes, there's that glorious old racket again.

This time we rely more often on green screen, but Miller continues to favor it, unlike many of his blockbuster brothers the analog. THE clang of metal and the crunch of bones are heard; the tension and effort of Stuntman and lead performers pushed to their limits is tangible and appreciable. Every location – Gastown, the Bullet Farm, the dizzying heights of the Citadel – is richly crafted, small towns dotting the map of Millerian hell. The director evokes a vastness, then focuses us on the spectacle, at times emotional and tearful, of some small people fighting for survival.

Then, as a young woman, Furiosa is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, with graceful rigor. Drive, shoot and walk on the roof of a tanker as it zooms at high speeds with granite composure. It's easy to draw the line between his Furiosa and the version proposed by Charlize Theron, aided by the film's increasingly convincing emotional arithmetic. Furiosa is given one possible love storyPraetorian Jack of Tom Burke, which could offer her a way out, a path that leads her back to the lush house from which she was kidnapped. But hope in the world of Mad Max it's a terribly fleeting thing: Miller's implacable and exhausting vision looms over everything.

A scene from Mad Max: Fury Road.

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

It can also be grimly fun. Hemsworth gives the film's flashiest and most indelible performance, because he gives complexity to Dementus' evilness without diminishing it. As he inflates his prosthetic nose that exudes indignation, he occasionally lets out an echo of what might be Dementus' past existence, the person he was before he became so greedy and ruthless. Hemsworth hisses and growls with the fluid theatricality of a consummate Shakespearean actor (perhaps this could prove to be the moment that convinces Hollywood of his abilities).

When Dementus and Furiosa come to a showdown, the film slows down to reflect on the meaning and usefulness of vendetta in the midst of so much chaos and horror. And so Furious fulfills its function as a prequel, tracing the path of its main character. Before she emerges cleansed by all this history, ennobled by a higher purpose, Furiosa will have to endure much, much more. Furious it's a great prelude to that powerful story arc. Its initial noise gradually gives way to Miller's purring which in the end manages to make everything work great.