Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Another week, another trip to the theater to check out the latest movie release.  Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the latest from writer-director George Miller.  As the prequel to 2015s highly successful Mad Max: Fury Road, I looked forward to seeing Furiosa on the big screen with great anticipation.

Furiosa for me turns out to be the latest film I’m split on.

The cinematography is a solid, plenty of over-the-top action sequences, and a nice smattering of returning characters/actors over a familiar backdrop highlight this one.  Unfortunately, those are the only true highlights or enjoyment to be had.

Over the course of the two-hour twenty-eight-minute run-time, which felt much, much longer, nothing much happens.  Anya Taylor-Joy as the main character Furiosa doesn’t even appear until an hour into the film as we watch the younger version grow up. Even when she does make her appearance, nothing really occurs.  

Essentially what we know about the character from the previous film is rehashed over the course of this one without adding any kind of new information or character development.  A problem that plagues all the characters across the film.

All the characters, old and new, this time are generic, wooden and lifeless.  There really isn’t anyone to hold on/relate to in any meaningful way.  They just slip past with as much impact as anonymous faces in a crowd. 

They as well as the movie itself is pretty forgettable, which I largely did by the time I got home.  A couple of action sequences came to mind but as a whole thinking about this one isn’t bringing up much in recall.

The pacing in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is rough.  The film is shown as chapters and plods along unevenly at best and is just tedious at worst. I spent the bulk of the film bored, fidgeting, and checked my watch at least half a dozen times wanting it to be over.  By the end of chapter 4 I was done with the whole thing so when chapter 5 appeared on screen I wanted to not only cry but do the one thing I don’t do. Walk out of a film. Yes, a big part of that was the call of nature, but an equal if not bigger part was just wanting to go home, get dinner, and knock out a season finale or two of “my shows”.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is at its best during the action sequences although they don’t pack the punch as in Fury Road with the reliance on more in studio filming and CGI. Furiosa definitely pales by comparison not only to previous films in the franchise but is a missed opportunity. It lacks the magic and excitement of a Mad Max film and is as dry and unwelcoming as the wastelands it features.

My split decision:

Visually - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is an 8.

Overall - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a 5.5.

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