STUDIO: Warner Brothers RUNNING TIME: 2hrs 28m AGE RATING: 15
STAR RATING: 5 Stars
VERDICT: Behold! Furiosa is the battle cry this summer movie season has been waiting for. Pitch Perfect.
This years summer movie season hasn’t had the greatest of starts for me. Fall Guy fell at the first hurdle, Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes was interesting but dull, IF was one of the most underwhelming moviegoing experiences I’ve had in a good while. But finally, here comes Furiosa. Driving her War Rig into cinemas for Memorial Day weekend. And goodness does she pack a punch. Hopefully enough of one that she won’t just set the reviews ablaze, but the box office too.
Furiosa is the most impressive action movie since it’s predecessor: Mad Max Fury Road, unleashed in cinemas nine years ago. Yet it is an entirely different beast of a film. If Fury Road was like a video game, Furiosa is like a really incredible graphic novel or manga come to life. It’s gritty, it’s real. Emotionally rich and full of depth, beyond anything achieved in the 2015 film. While that film remains technically superior, Furiosa has ten times more heart, brains, and courage.
And most of that comes down to just how captivating Anya Taylor Joy is as the titular heroine. I still don’t have words to describe it. But it’s utterly breathtaking. Bold. Grandiose. Everything an Odyssey like this needs to be. What Anya is able to achieve here is an impressive feat. Showcasing just how phenomenal and transcendent of an actress she is. She utters around 30 lines in this nearly 120 minute movie. Yet still, the audience are clued in to her every emotion, every step of the way through her eyes alone. It’s impossible not to compare her performance to that of Theron in the original film. Yet Anya is somehow able to carve out her own space. Her Furiosa is rage driven, hungry, and desperate. She’s scrappy as hell. Wise, but worn. And one of the most complex and engaging female characters of the year. Who goes through a journey, and transformation that left me gasping for air. Comparing the Young Furiosa, played for a good hour of this film by the remarkable Alyla Browne, to the broken hearted version Anya portrays by the end of the film is nearly impossible. They feel like totally different people, but with the same soul. A soul shaped by time, and cruelty. I wanted to leap into the screen and hug her. Fight for her. Fight with her. Protect her from the cruelty of this world. And spare her from what’s to come. Yet at the same time, you know that without that she wouldn’t become the woman Theron gets to pour life into in the 2015 film. It’s incredibly effecting. And most of that is thanks to Taylor Joy. Who was clearly fighting for Furiosa’s corner in the development of the movie too. Her final ten minutes of this movie was cathartic as hell. It broke my heart, it felt like a gut punch, but it also felt breathing for the very time. In a long time. Similarly, she gets to deliver one heck of a ferocious scream. A scream that made all the hairs on my neck stand right up. This is Taylor Joy like you’ve never seen her. An action superstar.
She attacks all her set pieces with such a ferocity. It’s hard to believe this is her first go leading an action film. It’s impressive, it’s dynamic. It’s awe inspiring, and I’ll be talking about it for a long time coming.
However I feel most of you, if early reactions are anything to go by, will spend most of that time talking about Chris Hemsworth’s transformation into Dementus. I’ve always believed Hemsworth to be the most talented of the Chris’, and he proves that here. However, it did veer too far into the hammy direction a little too often for me. And I could’ve done with scrapping that fake nose! But Hemsworth is delicious at chewing scenery. A real panto villain, so well drawn but so sinister that you couldn’t help but “Boo!” when he appears on screen. Like Road Runner possessed by a Panto Dame, his Dementus is childish, cruel, and Captivating.
But the thing you leave Furiosa talking about, are the stunning visuals. Somehow an improvement on the 2015 film. It’s very different visually, and George Miller has clearly returned to the Wasteland a very different filmmaker then he was back then. More interested into creating a biblical epic, then a shot of adrenaline. And he achieves that goal. There are sequences in Furiosa so powerful, you mouth will drop open. It sets the screen ablaze, holds you in its grasp and refuses to let you go. Exactly what cinema should be.
Furiosa will not be for everyone, it’s not Fury Road the redux like many of you will be looking for. But goodness did it feel good to sit down and watch something that feels *real*. A real movie. The kind of movie you can’t see at home. So grab your friends, climb into your War Rig and drive to your local, IMAX preferably, theatre this weekend! You won’t regret it.
Reviewed by Lewis Powell
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is in cinemas from Friday, 24th May.
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