“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” Brings New Depth to Wasteland | Review

MOVIE REVIEWS

Cannes 2024

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

“Oil for oil, teeth for teeth.” The epic of the future Empress Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) begins to take shape amidst the clash between the rugged Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and the fearsome lord of the Citadel, Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).

Taken as a child from the Green Place of Many Mothers where she lived, Furiosa is kidnapped by the horde of bikers led by the warlord Dementus. His army of motorcyclists soon collides with the rival power represented by Immortan Joe. The child, later a young woman, becomes a pawn between the two before the conflict ultimately erupts.

Nine years after the sensational Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller returns Out of Competition at Cannes (his last appearance was three years ago with Three Thousand Years of Longing) with this prequel spin-off dedicated to the character previously portrayed by Charlize Theron. Revolutionary in concept, it’s a “Mad Max Universe” film that doesn’t feature its eponymous hero (except for a brief cameo by stuntman Jacob Tomuri towards the end, reminiscent of the opening scene of the previous film). Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga favors a more structured narrative, touching on elements of Greek tragedy, at the expense of the unrestrained spectacle that characterized Fury Road.

This doesn’t mean Miller abandons the action and muscular elements entirely, but he tries to build an epic coming-of-age story (with a pace that’s not always engaging). Starting from the long preamble where we already understand the protagonist’s resilience (she doesn’t easily resign to being kidnapped), it progresses to her disguising herself as a male once captured in Immortan Joe’s “milk mothers” kingdom, then becoming his praetorian (with a significant plot hole here), and finally finding the chance to avenge her first captor, Dementus, who rides a chariot drawn by three motorcycles. Chris Hemsworth delivers an unusual performance for his standards, sometimes verging on parodying past villains.

In two and a half hours, despite Miller’s usual incredible directorial tricks—the assault on the tanker, the ambush at Bullet Farm, and the final chase where we finally learn how Furiosa loses her left arm—the film always seems on the verge of exploding. It seems poised to bring back the brutal nihilism that defined the first two saga chapters and the thrilling, adrenaline-filled immersion of the more recent Fury Road. However, this does not happen. For nostalgia, the beginning of the end credits features some images from Fury Road to connect today’s last scene to that future. Evidently, it would have been impossible to recreate that “model.”

It remains to be seen if and how this character, who Anya Taylor-Joy embodies with silent determination, will develop further, and whether the Wasteland, an imaginative territory, still has more stories to tell.

Valerio Sammarco

Cinematografo, May 16, 2024