Director George Miller clearly has some high-octane crazy blood filling him up. Nine years after gifting the world with Mad Max: Fury Road, the 79-year-old returns to the Wasteland once again to tell the story of how Furiosa became the hardened warrior we know and love. Don't fear if you think this is just more of the same – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a completely different beast. This isn't a non-stop thrill ride but a sprawling biblical epic full of blood and chrome.
Rest assured the elements of what makes up a Mad Max film are still here: sandy dunes, ridiculous stunts, weird characters. But it's the already established worldbuilding that takes centre stage; finally showing audiences locales such as the Bullet Farm and Gastown, and expanding the already extensive lore. Tonally it feels different too. Furiosa is a far darker and gorier adventure with intense shootouts, horrific torture scenes and brutal executions alongside the trademark vehicular combat.
The story is, unsurprisingly, a simple but effective one. A young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is taken from the luscious Green Place by goons serving the charismatic Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and grows up as his prized captive “Little D”. Throughout her childhood she witnesses Dementus' brutality and the recognisable faces in control of the Citadel, before learning the ways of road war on their war rigs as a young woman (played by Anya Taylor-Joy). But she is forever hellbent on making it back to the Green Place and getting revenge on Dementus along the way.
What makes Furiosa so riveting isn't so much the story details (fans of Fury Road will get a kick out of some callbacks) but how the story is told. Miller isn't a stranger to unpacking the very essence of storytelling – those few who have seen Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) will know – and here he goes all in on telling a mythological odyssey. The film is split into named chapters that have an air of mystery and grandiosity to them, and a narrator often chimes in with whispers of rumours and tales of the very legend unfolding before our eyes.
And then there's the visuals. Furiosa is at one point framed as an angel of death high above on the edge of a sand dune. One wide shot with a shimmering heat haze evoking Lawrence of Arabia sets up an epic set piece. A montage depicting the ‘40 Day Wasteland War' is nothing but fire, death and destruction. Miller is telling his own timeless tale in the most visceral way possible. An extended attack on a war rig shows he isn't slacking in the action department either, with one shot elevating the carnage from the road to the skies that will leave your jaw on the floor.
Audiences will be glad to hear that Furiosa offers more freakish side characters to love – Scrotus (Josh Helman) and Piss Boy (Darcy Bryce) certainly leave their mark – but Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth are the clear standouts. Hemsworth is having too much fun as the talkative, sly Dementus, proving we need him in more antagonistic roles. Taylor-Joy might be overshadowed by Hemsworth's loud performance, but she effectively gets across the grief and torment raging inside with her eyes and little dialogue alone.
Furiosa might turn certain viewers off with its slow first hour (compared to Fury Road anyway), but from that point on, Miller changes to fifth gear and stays there. This is 80's heavy metal in a purely visual form and a stark reminder that the crazy cast and crew who put this together are some of the best in the business. There truly is nothing else like this.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga releases in UK cinemas on May 24.
