YNOT at the Movies

After making four Mad Max movies, the Australian director George Miller decides to tell how his central character Furiosa came about. In a similarly spectacular fashion as in his previous film "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015) which won six Oscars in the technical categories, he crafts an exhilarating prequel "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" (Australia 2024 | 148 min.) for the franchise. The awe-striking action sequences will surely impress you, regardless of whether you are a cult follower of the franchise. Because this is a story that supposedly happened before the other Mad Max movies, "Furiosa" will make reasonable sense even to those who have not seen the other four Mad Max movies yet.

"Furiosa" is set in a dystopian wasteland where it is mostly a vast sand desert. Food and water are scarce. But 10-year-old Furiosa (Alyla Browne) lives in a secret paradise-like place called Green Place of Many Mothers. After she is kidnapped by a group of bikers, her mom (Charlee Fraser) heroically chases after the gang and tries to rescue her. Despite the impressive fight with the bikers, Furiosa becomes a hostage to the ruthless Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), who rides a hilarious three-motorcycle carriage resembling the chariots in "Ben-Hur" (1959). Dementus asks Furiosa to lead them to her home, which Furiosa will never do.

Even though it's a desolate wasteland, there are several fortresses around, including the Gas Town which produces fuel for those bikers and 18 wheelers, the Bullet Farm where all the ammunition are made, and the Citadel where Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) rules his faithful fighters who paint their bodies and faces all white. No matter where they are, one thing in common about them is that they are ruthless, barbaric, and terrifyingly cruel.

Dementus negotiates a deal with Immortan Joe to divide the limited resource, and Furiosa is given to Immortan Joe to potentially produce him an offspring. But the brave and resourceful Furiosa escapes the fate and grows up as a skilled worker. Sixteen years later, Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) takes Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) as her mentor, and she is ready to take revenge and find her way back home.

The writer-director George Miller expands our imagination with his dazzling visual and outrageous action sequences in this extravaganza of violence featuring soaring motorcycles and bizarre costumes. Following the example of "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015), the technical achievement in "Furiosa" is extraordinary. As if you are surveying sets at Burning Man, or costumes at Folsom Street, or action scenes in the Fast & Furious franchise, you will be impressed by what you see throughout the film.

I regard the noise from motorcycles as one of the most annoying sounds in this world, but that soaring noise in this film serves its purpose and fits those often sadistic characters. When motorcycles become tripled in Dementus's chariot, they make him even more silly and outlandishly comical. This is an extremely loud film, mostly from the explosions and motorcycles. The film's characters don't speak much, and when they do, they don't always make sense. It's the thrilling actions that will awe you.

So there it is, you finally know where Furiosa comes from, and why she has an artificial arm in the previous films.

"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" opens on Friday, May 24, 2024.