Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

This high-octane action flick is now playing in theaters, as well as on Fandango at Home.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hour 28 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

SPONSOR of Today’s movie review:

Mad Max 4-film DVD Collection: https://amzn.to/3VqUhpX

IN A NUTSHELL:

This wild prequel for the dusty franchise was directed by George Miller, who also co-wrote it with Nick Lathouris. What an imagination they have! Believe it or not, this script was already complete before he even filmed Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015! George Miller wanted to flesh out the entire story before filming anything. So why the long wait between releases?

THINGS I LIKED:

The film benefits from great performances by Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth: two fan favorites. They both appeared to be having a blast with their characters. We get to hear a rough version of Hemsworth’s real Australian accent. As for the beautiful Anya Taylor-Joy, we’ve never seen her look quite like this before!
The rest of the cast is absolutely fantastic with their over-the-top crazy antics and look.
The name of some of the characters are entertaining: Toe Jam, Smeg, Vulture, Fang, Rictus Erectus, and Scrotus.
Chapter cards tell us what to look for in each section. They’re written in English, as well as a creative language. Part 1 is called “The Pole of Inaccessibility. Part 2 is “Lessons from the Wasteland.” Part 3 is “The Stowaway”. Then, “Homeward”, “Beyond Vengeance”,
The action is frenetic and dynamic, featuring all kinds of contraptions and modes of transportation. Chris Hemsworth’s chariot-looking vehicle made me laugh out loud. Kudos to the stunt team and choreographers of all the amazing action sequences.
All of the characters are new, so it’s okay if you haven’t seen the more recent Mad Max: Fury Road. You’ll still be able to understand it if you understand the nature of the post-apocalyptic world building. In fact, this is not a sequel but the origin story of Furiosa before she teamed up with Mad Max!
There is more emotional depth in this addition to the franchise than all previous ones.
The costume design and makeup are terrific. Chris Hemsworth was almost unrecognizable.
There are so many amusing details. For example, look for the crow-shaped bobble head of Nux, wobbling in his car after the final rolling credits end. Ha ha
The environmental colors are amazing.
So many of the costumes are absolutely ridiculous, which Max fans love.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some of the stunts looked like they were CGI in the style of video games. A lot of the scenes were clearly filmed with green screen, which was disappointing.
I was surprised that there were so many scenes without any music score.
Act 3 is surprisingly slow.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Bloody, brutal violence
We see disgusting maggots on humans’ wounds. Ick. So gross.
We see paintings of topless women
Fire, explosions, tons of destruction

THEMES:

Survival
Sacrifice
Vengeance
Power
Control

FUNNY LINES:

“I am the great Dementus, and I rule the wasteland! Let’s party!” – Dementus (Chris Hemsworth)

INTERESTING LINES:

“You fabulous thing. You crawled out of a pitiless grave, deeper than hell. Only one thing that is going to do that for you. Not hope. HATE. No shame in hate. It’s one of the greatest forces of nature.” – Dementus (Chris Hemsworth)
“If you survive everything we take on together, you’ll have all the skills you need to get wherever you want to go.” – Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke)
“My mother. My childhood. I want them back. I want them back!” – Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy)
“Where are you going so full of hope? There is no hope!” – Dementus (Chris Hemsworth)
“This is our destiny. You, me: The question is “Do you have it in you to make it epic?” – Dementus (Chris Hemsworth)
“That wasn’t hope. That was instinct.” – Dementus (Chris Hemsworth)