Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga isn’t a complete misfire as there are some good moments but as great of a character that Furiosa was in Mad Max: Fury Road, I would’ve preferred a sequel rather than this prequel and maybe coming out sooner.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(2024)
Genre(s): Action, Science Fiction
Warner Bros.| R – 148 min. – $0.00 | August 13, 2024
Date Published: 08/12/2024 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa (ALYLA BROWNE/ANYA TAYLOR-JOY) falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus (CHRIS HEMSWORTH). Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe (LACHY HULME). As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home. Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the long-awaited and long in the making prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road thanks in part to a lawsuit between writer-director George Miller and studio Warner Bros. Let me say, Mad Max: Fury Road was a fantastic thriller roller coaster of craziness intertwined with amazing characters and a solid story. Furiosa meanwhile certainly as the style and look of the Mad Max world, the result was something of a mixed bag. Although the action set pieces were well shot, with aid of some so-so CGI, and the performances were mostly serviceable, with Chris Hemsworth chewing the scenery quite well, for the most part I found some parts to be downright dull. Furthermore I also wasn’t terribly invested in the story, as I tended to tune out a time or two. In terms of the performances, as I mentioned Chris Hemsworth did seem to be having a good time while Anya Taylor-Joy afforded herself nicely in the lead and by the end I did kind of buy into her transforming into Charlize Theron in Fury Road (this film takes place 15-20 years prior to those events). That being said, as good of an actress Joy is, I did kind of want to see Furiosa post Fury Road played by Theron. The other actors were fine with Tom Burke having some nice scenes opposite Joy, his character playing a mentor and Lachy Hulme did okay as the memorable Immortan Joe, previously played by the late Hugh Keays-Byrne. There’s no doubt filmmaker George Miller is a tremendous writer and director and nothing can take away his near-perfect action-thriller in Mad Max: Fury Road and although there were a few moments of greatness, the sum of the whole made for a forgettable experience but at least this does feel like it takes place in the world of Mad Max. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa (57:00) — This lengthy behind-the-scenes featurette delves into the development into the project and includes interviews with members of the cast and crew. You don’t see featurettes like these anymore from new releases and was very informative and well worth watching. Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa (10:19) and Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus (10:02) are profiles on the respective characters and the actors talking about each. Furiosa: Stowaway to Nowhere (11:13) chronicles one of the action set pieces with behind-the-scenes footage. Metal Beasts and Holy Motors (14:42) is another featurette about the various vehicles used and destroyed. |
VIDEO – 5/5 |
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Warner Bros. releases Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga presented with a 2160p high-definition transfer and no real surprise here but it does look incredible. Detail is incredibly sharp in both of the close-ups and more distant shots while colors have a bit of pop set against the dry and browner Australian outback setting. There were no signs of artifacts, aliasing or any other flaws making for a theatrical looking presentation. |
AUDIO – 5/5 |
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The included Dolby Atmos track comes to life with the numerous action sequences as well as the many of the quieter moments with crisp and clear dialogue coming from mostly the center channel while the front and rears are also used for ambient noises along with the action sequences that gives this lossless track some incredible depth. |
OVERALL — 4/5 |
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga isn’t a complete misfire as there are some good moments but as great of a character that Furiosa was in Mad Max: Fury Road, I would’ve preferred a sequel rather than this prequel and maybe coming out sooner. Given this was a box office flop, it appears to be the end of the line of the franchise unfortunately. |