Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Review

9 years after the release of Mad Max: Fury Road we finally have the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, unfortunately it has been suffering at the box office but I managed to watch it last night and here is my review for the film. The premise of the film sees the origin of Furiosa and how she would grow into the character we meet in Fury Road. 

Main Character

Anya Taylor Joy takes over the role of Furiosa and I thought she encapsulated the role perfectly. I truly believed that she was a younger version of Charlize Theron's interpretation of the character. It does take a while to introduce her in the film and she doesn't have too many lines here but similar to Tom Hardy's performance as Max she gives a very physical performance which just works. Also credit to Alyla Browne who plays the even younger version of the character for the first hour and she she does a great job too. 

Supporting Characters

But the star of this show has to be Chris Hemsworth playing the villain Dementus. He absolutely owns every scene that he is in and is this over the top Australian leader who is oozing charisma and charm and Hemsworth is clearly having a load of fun and he gives one of his best performances here. 

We get Immortan Joe back here, though he is played by a different actor called Lachy Hulme but you wouldn't realise that from the film. It is cool seeing a younger version of the character and you do realise why he has all the devoted troops to his cause. 

But the rest of the cast aren't particularly great. Tom Burke plays Jack and he is incredibly dull, he is kind of introduced as a companion of Furiosa but he adds nothing to the film and this guy delivers his lines in super boring fashion and I did not care about him at all. 

Story

The story is really good, I criticised Mad Max: Fury Road for its lack of story but this film is totally different and tells a really engaging story where we grow to really care and support Furiosa even if we didn't know her from a previous film. This is clearly a revenge tale and it does slightly take its time but I appreciate how Furiosa develops and becomes an interesting character. 

Script

The script is okay and I would say that it is better then the previous film especially when Hemsworth is just monologuing and giving these great moments. But the film lacks true dramatic moments and moments that will make a viewer care. 

Style 

The film once again looks fantastic, the visuals are some of the best you will see in any film out there. The action scenes are good and do their job effectively, though they do feel like they have been lessened and aren't anywhere near as grand and crazy as Fury Road. The film also has some slight pacing issues in its first act which means it takes a while to get going. 

Overall

Overall, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a good film and serves the character of Furiosa well. If you are a fan of that character and this universe then you will like this film. I would say go support this film as it needs to be doing better at the box office as I wouldn't mind seeing more stories in the Mad Max universe in the future. 

Rating - 7/10