First Things First…
I’m bummed that I missed this in theaters this past spring. I tried to rush to get through the first four Mad Max films and review them for Geeksbury, but I ran out of time before this left the theater.
I’m hoping for good things. I really like Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth. And Fury Road is great. But the reviews of this weren’t as good as Fury Road. And frankly, even though I like Charlize Theron as Furiosa, and I’m not uninterested in a prequel about her, for as much acclaim as she got for that role, I thought Nicholas Hoult’s Nux was the best part of the movie.
Regardless, we’ll see how this goes.
5 Things I Like
5. The Strong, Silent Type
Much like Max in all the prior movies in this franchise, Furiosa doesn’t have much to say. But I still found Anya Taylor-Joy compelling whenever she was on screen (once she finally shows up, of course). She’s capable, determined, and always has this steely look on her face. Even when her cover is blown during the attack on the War Rig, I figured that since she and Jack fend off the attack together, she’d trust him right away afterward. But no—she immediately has her gun trained on him and sends him on his way. She only lets him back once she realizes he can help her.
4. Failed Siege on the Citadel
From the time the movie first started being marketed, Dementus was clearly the villain. But I found it surprising to see, at least at first, that despite his status as leader of his band of outlaws, he’s not exactly the most powerful or capable leader.
In fact, he’s kind of a goof.
And while I have mixed feelings about him overall, I like the way we first learn this. When he gets the one guy to tell him about the Citadel, he just assumes it’s a place he can easily overrun with his horde. Little does he know how much more professional an operation Immortan Joe is running over there.
His siege fails, and we realize Dementus isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. Not every group, and not every warlord, is going to be on equal footing.
3. Continuing Down Fury Road
Even though it’s cool in its own right that you can watch any of the first four Mad Max movies without needing to have seen the others, and there’s not much lore to know, I like that this movie helps fill in some of what was established in Fury Road. I like world building.
Here, we see a younger, more vibrant Immortan Joe. We see that he wasn’t as stingy with the water in the past. We see more from his concubines, and from the War Boys, and the People Eater, and from some other places in the Wasteland.
2. Praetorian Jack
Jack is an unexpectedly cool character. He’s a badass in his own right, but he also does nothing but help Furiosa, with no real benefit to himself. I would’ve liked to see their relationship develop a little further, whether it became romantic or was just a friendship.
Either way, it’s hard to come by people you can trust in the Wasteland, and Jack proves himself to Furiosa time and time again.
1. The War Rig
There are other fantastic action sequences, but I felt the attack on the War Rig is the most breathtaking part of the movie. This is when Furiosa is revealed to be a woman, and she and Jack fight together while Jack keeps driving the War Rig and they try to fend off the bad guys.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. Unfulfilling Revenge
Furiosa is driven by revenge the whole movie. So it’s an interesting choice to have Dementus go on and on to her before he dies about how revenge won’t fill her up the way she expects it to. It’s a great point, and it’s probably true, so I have to appreciate it. At the same time, the lack of sweet revenge isn’t terribly fulfilling to watch. As a movie climax, it’s not ideal.
1. The Great Dementus
I feel torn about Chris Hemsworth’s performance. On one hand, he goes for it in a way I’ve never seen from him before. He’s funny, menacing, strange, sad—he hits a lot of notes.
He’s also quite verbose. And that’s rare in this universe.
The thing is, I’m not sure he really goes for it.
Like, sure, he’s weird in a way we’ve never seen Chris Hemsworth be weird before.
But is he as weird as the Toecutter?
Is he as weird as Lord Humungus?
Is he as weird as Master Blaster? Or Aunty Entity?
Is he even as weird as Immortan Joe?
I’m not so sure. It still feels like there’s another level of weird for a villain in this universe that he never reaches.
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. Fury Road Clip Show
This movie leads straight into the events of Fury Road. That’s fine. But we don’t need actual clips from that movie as the credits start. We don’t need Charlize Theron here to understand where the story goes next.
It’s a small thing, especially since it’s right at the end—essentially after this movie has already ended. But it’s a bit lame.
2. Too Long for Anya to Arrive
I was surprised that young Furiosa, who we meet at the beginning of the movie as we see how she came to belong to Dementus and then to Immortan Joe, sticks around for almost an hour. It just means less time with Anya Taylor-Joy as the main version of Furiosa for this story.
1. Does Anyone Question Anything in the Citadel?
This movie is two and a half hours, by far the longest in the series. It meanders, and I really felt its length at times. And yet, there are still blanks they fail to fill in.
The first one that really bothered me is about Furiosa’s escape from being one of Joe’s wives. He traded for her, and she was being kept with the other wives.
To her credit, she knew Rictus would come for her, and she hatched an effective plan to escape from him—which also lets her blend in with the other citizens of the Citadel and pass herself off as a War Boy.
But nothing is ever said about her going missing from the wives. There are only a handful of them. So it would seem to be a big deal when Joe brings in someone new. Didn’t they miss her? Did they look for her and try to bring her back? Or did they just let it go without question?
Later, Furiosa’s cover is blown during the assault on the War Rig. She can’t escape the Citadel as she planned, but Jack says he’ll train her. And just like that, she’s his protégé? What about the work she had been doing while passing herself off as a boy? Are they going to miss her? Do they need to replace the work she was doing? Did she have another boss she answered to who suddenly needs to be informed she’s actually a woman and just got promoted?
Tim Matassa
