'Furiosa' is very enjoyable, but it’s no 'Fury Road'

George Miller returns to the desert for the fifth movie in the Mad Max saga, with Anya Taylor-Joy stepping into the War Rig

The afternoon before the screening of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga earlier this week, I decided to give Mad Max: Fury Road another watch, having not seen it in a couple of years. I always mean to refresh my memory before watching a prequel or sequel, and I don’t usually get to. 

I fear that was a mistake. While Furiosa has some great stuff, it’s not entirely on the level of its predecessor, and the side-by-side comparison doesn’t do it many favors. 

George Miller, who created the Mad Max series and directed the first three movies in 1979, 1981, and 1985, revisited that world 30 years later, and the result was probably the most successful “franchise reboot” in movie history. It was the best movie of 2015, won several Oscars, and redefined what action-adventure movie greatness can be. 

Fury Road was simultaneously faithful to the spirit of the earlier movies — combining apocalyptic bleakness with funny names and fantastic conceits like a guitarist whose ax spouts flames — and also its own thing, utilizing practical effects and even letting the character of Furiosa (Charlize Theron) upstage Max himself (Tom Hardy) for much of the film. Fury Road also inspired a pretty outstanding making-of book, Kyle Buchanan’s “Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road.” 

Now Miller, who is closing in on 80, has returned to the Australian desert for another Mad Max movie. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel to Fury Road, focusing on the backstory of Imperator Furiosa, the warrior character played by Theron in the 2015 film. 

Fury Road won six Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing, and most of those department heads have returned. Also back is composer Tom Holkenborg, whose music made Fury Road sing, although Simon Duggan has replaced John Seale as cinematographer. 

The structure, though, is very different. The film digs into Furiosa's backstory, depicting her childhood as an orphan—the word “Dickensian” has come up quite a lot in the early reviews—how she left the Green Place and was passed between a pair of warlords before emerging as the Furiosa we recognize from the earlier film. 

Anya Taylor-Joy steps into Theron’s shoes as Furiosa, although we don’t see her until nearly an hour into the film. Until then, Alyla Browne plays her very capably as a child warrior who sometimes has to disguise herself as a boy. Neither character speaks a great deal, which certainly disappointed the people who were lugging stopwatches around Cannes last week. 

The main new character is Dementus (a fantastic Chris Hemsworth), a charismatic warlord and rival of Big Bad Immortan Joe. He carries a stuffed animal as a reminder of his lost family. Lachy Hulme portrays a younger, slightly healthier version of Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who has since passed away in Fury Road.) 

The film takes a while to get going and even longer to finish, and it features nearly a dozen false climaxes. You’re left with the question of a particular character's fate, and the film drags that out to a ridiculous degree. 

But when Furiosa does get going, it’s pretty glorious. It includes some action setpieces that are up there with the best of Fury Road. It isn’t quite new or surprising the second time through. 

Some parts of the film feel a lot like Fury Road—long, elaborate, creatively blocked action scenes. We also see early versions of the War Rig and some further building of the world we saw in the 2015 film. 

Also, the character names are just incredible. Immortan Joe’s sons/sidekicks are named “Rictus Erectus” and “Scrotus.” I think I now have new nicknames for Don and Eric Trump after years of calling them “Uday” and “Qusay.” 

Will the Mad Max franchise continue after this? Who knows. But Furiosa is a worthy entry, even if it’s not up there with its all-time great predecessor.