Film: Furiosa

 

GENRE: Action
RATING: R for strong violence and grisly images
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 28 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre|
STARRING: Anya Taylor-Joy (Queen’s Gambit, Amsterdam, Dune Pt. II)
Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Extraction, Rush); Alyla Browne (newcomer)
DIRECTOR: George Miller (Fury Road, Happy Feet, Babe: Pig in the City)
WRITERS: Miller & Nick Lathouris (Mad Max: Fury Road)
PLOT: The backstory of Furiosa before she teams up with Mad Max.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Liked Fury Road but lowered expectations this time.

STORY STUFF: Let’s be honest, these films are just big rigs travelling back and forth getting attacked by those who want power in this post-apocalyptic Australia. I enjoyed the visual delights of Fury Road and there was much of the same in this film. Sure, we are following Furiosa instead of Max but there is still a lot of traveling and things blowing up in the desert. As usual, not much dialogue with the exception of Hemsworth’s Dr. Dementus who gets to talk a little too much in this film. He kind of takes over the plot which I don’t think was intentional. Anyway, this film is too long for what it lays out and the pacing is off with its high-intensity chases and then dragged out speechifying from Hemsworth and Furiosa sneaking about. An uneven film.       

ACTING STUFF: Lots of quietness and shows of strength. Taylor-Joy is good but think others could have accomplished this as well. Enjoyed Browne as younger Furiosa although I get frustrated when people don’t do what they are told for their own safety. Hemsworth gets to have a lot of fun but it seems like he’s in a different movie that the rest of the cast. I enjoy him being the bad guy but his attitude is similar to Thor’s.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: It’s all about the visuals. Beautiful shots and silhouettes in the desert. Lots of cool camera shots as the chases ensue. Plenty of explosions all around. The music was better in Fury Road. The unfortunately named Scrotus’ makeup reminded me of Mikey Day’s Butthead. Just sayin’. It was fun to see all the bizarre and disgusting names given to the characters in the closing credits – not that I remember people using those names throughout the film.         

VERDICT: Three stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like to see things go boom in the desert and liked Fury Road.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Bad Boys 4