The 575th film I have seen in theaters…

Furiosa is a little girl living in “The Green Place”, a spot of life in the middle of post-apocalyptic Australia. Dementus, a biker gang warlord, kidnaps and sells her to Immortan Joe, another Wasteland warlord. Seeking vengeance on Dementus, Furiosa works her way up Joe’s command structure. All of this is done with one greater goal in mind: get home.

Anya Taylor-Joy is our new Furiosa. While I would have preferred a de-aged Charlize Theron, I appreciate Anya’s work here. She is blessed with very intriguing eyes, which is useful as Furiosa has maybe 30 lines in the movie. That’s half of what they gave Tom hardy in Fury Road, so she did all right. lol. Tom Burke plays Jack, the driver of the War Rig and mentor/love interest for Furiosa. He did a fine job, but it was really a small role.

We have several actors from Fury Road returning to their roles or appearing as new characters. John Howard is back People Eater, the banker like bureaucrat. Angus Sampson returns as the Organic Mechanic, one of my favorite names from the series. Nathan Jones is Rictus – immortan Joe’s musclebound idiot son. Josh Helman, who was a War Boy in FR, steps into the role of Scrotus – Joe’s intelligent but puny son. This was the villain of the Mad Max video game, which I STILL haven’t played. As Hugh Keays-Byrne has passed, Lachy Hulme steps into the shoes of Immortan Joe.

The actor that steals the show, as he often does, is Chris Hemsworth as Dementus, the leader of the biker gang that kidnaps Furiosa. He is outstanding here, pure malevolence and chaos. While a leading man, I can’t help but wonder if Hemsworth has the heart of a character actor. He was truly fantastic.

2015’s Fury Road was one of the best films ever made, easily the best of the Mad Max films. Furiosa does not reach that pinnacle, it was never going to do that. That said, it is still an outstanding movie. The performances were excellent, particularly Hemsworth. The make-up and design continue to be perfection, building on the work in Fury Road. The visuals/stunt/cinematography/sound were second to none (but Fury Road).

Last I heard, George Miller was planning two more Mad Max sequels. I pray he gets to work on them. These films are each a treasure and I’d love to see him play in the universe a couple more times. They have been a constant in my life and I hope they continue to be.

8/10

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