It’s a mad, mad, mad world. The Earth’s surface scorched, resources scarce, and an ever so dwindling and insane population; this is George Miller’s world, and we’re all living it.

 

Returning to the silver screen after his philosophical and meditative Three Thousand Years of Longing, Miller offers us a prequel chapter that covers the upbringing of Mad Max: Fury Road’s heroine, Imperator Furiosa. This road warrior heroine was one of the best characters to come from 2010’s cinema, and Miller brings her back to tell her revenge epic leading up to the events of the 2015 blockbuster. It’s clear that there’s so much love and care for this character, and in Furiosa, one of cinema’s best characters becomes even more complex, tragic, fierce and mythic in this Mad Max entry that is the meanest, bleakest one yet. 

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As Fury Road is a thrill ride that only takes place over a few days, Furiosa is an epic that details the years of her childhood and beyond. After being taken from her home and witnessing her mother’s death, she adapts to survive in the rash wasteland while trying to find those responsible for everything being taken from her. The main culprit of her despair being a Biker Warlord by the name of Dr. Dementus, who plans to shake up the wasteland strongholds to make it all his. The film also crosses paths with the Fury Road villains, Immortan Joe and his gang of War Boys, as Furiosa gets familiar with them while planning her vengeance on Dementus. 

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Before our eyes, we are seeing the cinematic myth of Furiosa being molded; a wonderful extension of this wonderful character. While Anya Taylor-Joy leads the film as Furiosa, I feel it’s equally important to discuss Alyla Browne’s performance as young Furiosa, who is present through a significant amount of the first half. It’s a quiet but surprising performance that’s effortlessly fierce and fearlessly tender as opposed to the boastful and bombastic Dementus. As the film's villain, Chris Hemsworth, is giving quite possibly his career best as Dementus. Chewing up the screen at every possible chance, in a performance that feels physical, emotionally impenetrable, massive, explosive, and raw. Hemsworth out-performs nearly every big screen villain performance since… well… Fury Road.

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As the early chunk of the film covers the captivating chapter of her childhood, Anya Taylor-Joy enters the film as we cover her time with Immortan Joe and his War Boys. Taylor-Joy feels even more reserved and quiet than Browne’s child Furiosa. However, the physicality of the performance becomes increasingly more demanding, and is an INCREDIBLY angry performance with a rage that burns hotter than Gastown. It’s dedicated and focused; never losing sight of what this character stood for in Fury Road and expanding her mythos to an even more legendary degree.

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Of course though, the mad man George Miller himself knew exactly what to do to make this the best prequel it could be. Complementing Fury Road, this prequel manages to feel entirely singular with some of the most impressive action set pieces I’ve seen this decade so far. Furiosa never once feels like it’s replicating Fury Road - in fact, Miller recontextualizes the 2015 film to make its lead heroine deeper, sadder, and stronger while delivering a revenge epic that’s beefy, mean, and FURIOUS. I really can’t say for sure if Furiosa is a better cinematic feat than Fury Road, but it is an incredibly worthy prequel that holds up to it in almost every regard. It’s such a wonderful wasteland Miller continues to explore and play around with, and yet again, he’s given us something incredible.