They named her “Furiosa.” Yeah, it’s the dystopian future of aggressive Darwinism among the wastelands. Still … when you name a child “Furiosa,” I’m thinkin’ they’re unlikely to be a C.P.A., knowwhatI’msayin’?
Today, I wish to talk about the denizens of the Mad Max world. The underfed, weapon-wielding, constantly battling, dystopian warriors of post-Apocalypse Australia. You’ll note I didn’t call them “short-lived.” Seems hard to believe, huh? Life is cheap in the vast Outback Thunderdome, and, well, let’s face it: 1/3 of the survivors seem to be suffering from the damaging effects of nuclear radiation, 1/3 could accurately be described as having either PTSD or a death wish, and the remaining 1/3 have resigned themselves to a ragged life of soldiering, sunstroke, and bad nutrition. On top of this, the population seems to be about 90% men, which makes absolutely no sense from either a biological survival or police state POV. And yet, despite these truisms, you can blink an eye, return to the same place twenty years in the future and see the same damn people.
Well, we all know how radiation dissipates rapidly and how effective dystopian medical practices are. I mean, it just stands to reason that these places that demonstrate “life is cheap” on a daily basis manage to hold onto the same faces and populations as when we last saw them. Because of course.
This is the fifth Mad Max film and you’ll be glad to know it is at least as violent as the other four, perhaps more so. The sheer amount of weaponized objects flung, hurled, lofted, dropped, sliced, and generally released in the direction of perceived enemies in this film is certainly countable, but why would you start? This take is a Fury Road prequel focusing on the one-armed bald badass played by Charlize Theron in the earlier film. Today, the non-nonsense survivor is played by Alyla Browne as li’l Furiosa and Anya Taylor-Joy as the young adult version who inexplicably passes for a boy. Well, hey, we all have hobbies.
As a child, future C.P.A. Furiosa and her sister Valkyrie live in a rare garden paradise. It is a lush green with running water a fruit trees surrounded by an ocean of pain. Writer/director George Miller gave us a healthy ten seconds of Eden before deciding that was enough. To be fair, this is ten more seconds of Eden than you’ll get in most Mad Max films; George has clearly gone soft in old age. While picking peaches, li’l Furiosa spies invaders and she’s furious-a. However, while sabotaging the offending motorbikes, Furiosa is captured and taken by the vandals.
Initially, we think the crime is kidnapping, and with Mother Furiosa in hot pursuit, such is a reasonable POV, however, there is as much energy here devoted to elimination as capture. The adults i
n paradise realize when their secret gets out, there will be no more paradise.
Neither Furiosa nor her mother will ever see paradise again, of course.
Taken to a warlord camp run by Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), Furiosa proves valuable enough not to be killed instantly, which is a bit of a running theme in this film. In a world of tribal fealty and warlord fiefdoms, Furiosa is on her own, and the only way she’ll survive is by either making herself disappear, defending herself furiousaly, or proving herself valuable enough to keep. There is a whole lotta violence that follows this particular moment in time in the film.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a film in which you’ll find yourself saying things like: “That was so cool! Wait. Was that good or bad? What am I rooting for here?!” There are three distinct tribes in the film, each tied to protection of a single post-Apocalyptic resource. All we care about is Furiosa, who gets lost in violent shuffles from time to time, but often manages to emerge unscathed – well, she starts the film with two arms and we know she’s down to one by Fury Road, so I’m guessing she’ll eventually find some big trouble. The action is first rate; the stunts are first rate; the violence will satisfy the violence crowd. Past the first ten seconds, I pretty much loathed every character who wasn’t Furiosa, which made the violence easier to swallow, but made the 2.5 hour run-time a little tough. I mean there really were multiple times in the film in which the violence was cool, but I wasn’t sure whether “good guys” or “bad guys” are winning. Furiosa, just leave all this. Seriously. I doubt this will become the favorite of the Mad Max crowd, but it shouldn’t disappoint any among them.
There was once a young girl of Fury
Who was forced to grow up in a hurry
Survival, she aced
But difficulty she faced
Fond memories would forever be blurry
Rated R, 158 Minutes
Director: George Miller
Writer: George Miller, Nick Lathouris
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Video gamers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Pacifists
