Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

"There will always be war," says a knowing voice, "but to get home, Furiosa fought the world." Such is life in the post-apocalyptic Mad Max universe; every minute is a fight to survive, and every person still alive is out to kill you. "Furiosa" is the fifth movie in George Miller's action franchise, and like the others before it, it primarily consists of crazed men wearing silly costumes driving around the desert in souped up vehicles while finding increasingly creative ways to kill each other. The fact that the series still remains relevant 45 years after the first "Mad Max" is a testament to Miller's unparalleled action chops, unwavering vision and ruthless filming practices, often demanding more out of cast and crew than they may be comfortable with. That last part is probably the biggest reason why there has only been five of these movies in 45 years. However, almost 10 years after "Mad Max: Fury Road," Miller (who is approaching 80 years old) has once again convinced studios to give him $150+ million to drag a bunch of people out into the grueling Australian Outback for the next installment.

If "Fury Road" was Miller reinventing the franchise and raising the bar for modern action movies, "Furiosa" is its slightly more relaxed and mature older cousin; "Mad Max" is the ambitious, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink debut album, and "Furiosa" the major label debut with smoothed out sound. It's by no means an insult to say that "Furiosa" can't compete with "Fury Road's" breakneck pace and manic energy -- not many movies can. So while it may seem like "Furiosa" is slightly disappointing, it's only because you're comparing it to lightning in a bottle.

Don't get too worried, though: "Furiosa" still has plenty of spectacular action scenes, all filmed with expert precision and death-defying practical effects, as cars, motorcycles, parachutes, large gates, and numerous leather-clad people explode in the familiar, sun-bombed colors of the desert. The movie's highlight is probably the mid-movie setpiece centered around the high-speed pursuit of a giant oil tanker, as enemies attack it from every conceivable angle. Bodies fly in a continuous spray, over, under and between vehicles that never slow down, leaving you to wonder how the stunt crew possibly survived the shoot. Even though we've come to expect this sort of thing from this franchise, it's still as thrilling as ever when these scenes are cooking with maximum gas.

There is a story amongst all the explosions, believe it or not. "Furiosa" spends a lot of time adding to the lore of the overall universe; the few areas of remaining civilization are more clearly defined, giving the audience a sense of how little is actually left and how desperate the struggle to control those areas is.

We begin by giving Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron in "Fury Road") an appropriately tragic backstory. Initially set years before "Fury Road," the young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is out picking peaches in the Green Place, one of the last remaining areas with fresh water and agriculture, when she is captured by raiders. This begins a tense chase scene where Furiosa's mother (Charlee Fraser, who should probably get her own movie) is not only trying to save her daughter, but keep the location of the Green Place a secret from everyone else. The secret is kept at great cost, but Furiosa is unable to escape the clutches of the warlord Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Furiosa becomes mute, refusing to tell Dementus where she came from, and the years go by as she remains half prisoner, half adopted daughter of Dementus.

It's well over an hour before the movie's star, Anya Taylor-Joy, shows up on screen. At this point, Furiosa has escaped Dementus during his territorial battles with Immortan Joe (the old guy with the skull faceplate who lords over the Citadel in "Fury Road"), briefly joining Joe's harem of wives before escaping again, disguised as a teenage boy who works in the Citadel's body shop. She works her way up the ranks before partnering with the commander of the "war rig" truck (Tom Burke) to go on dangerous fuel runs between the fuel and weapons facilities controlled by the Citadel. Every venture out into the wild runs the risk of being attacked by Dementus' gang, and Furiosa must balance her desire to take revenge on Dementus with her lifelong hope of finding her way back home to the Green Place.

Taylor-Joy does her best to channel the same barely-contained rage and ass-kicking prowess that Theron brought to the character, but falls short. Her giant, anime eyes and unique facial features work well when she is required to stare daggers or express fear, but she doesn't come off nearly as wild or physically menacing as Theron. It also doesn't help that A) she isn't in the movie for the first hour and is almost completely upstaged by the superior athleticism of her younger counterpart, and B) she falls victim to the tension-killing curse of all prequels, in that we all know that Furiosa will survive everything that happens in this movie. I like Taylor-Joy a lot generally, but her striking, otherworldly looks put her a little out of place in this barren and unforgiving world.

Hemsworth comes off a lot better as the petty tyrant Dementus, and perfectly suited to both the physical demands of this kind of world, but the wacky, silliness of riding around in a chariot pulled by three tied-together motorcycles. He is able to have a lot of fun with the role, imbuing it with just enough pity and patheticness to make Dementus an almost-sympathetic character (particularly compared to the cartoonishly evil Immortan Joe).

The movie is happy to luxuriate in the many action sequences, resulting in a movie that feels a little stretched at 148 minutes, especially when things aren't in full-blown chaos mode. Miller makes sure all the pieces fit neatly in place so everything is where it should be by the time "Fury Road" needs to start, which is well-considered and often clever, but again, a bit of a dramatic vacuum.

But when the bread-and-butter of this franchise is the spectacle, and the spectacle looks amazing, it's hard to care too much about perceived slights in character and story. "Furiosa" is a blast to experience, and even if it doesn't reach the absurd heights of "Fury Road," it's still a hell of a ride.