Miller delivers another Mad Max winner

Johnson Thomas

This George Miller epic, fifth in his Mad Max series, coming after the exceptional ‘Fury Road’, is a treat to watch. It’s a prequel which outlines Furiosa’s origins and the reasons for her rage. Set in a futuristic dystopia, this action flick may not top ‘Fury Road’, but it sure does stay in contention as the next best thing. ‘Furiosa’ is truly a badass female revenge story — a battle so savage and brutal that the only person she can trust is herself.

This film has a glut of gravity-defying chases, high-flying stunts, deeply felt pathos and reverberating energy that draws you in completely, as the characters and the filmmakers push the limits of what can be actualised in a frame. The future here is anchored around the past.

There are hints of Biblical iconography, Arthurian legend, eastern and western mythology lending weight to an entrancing story that manages to surprise, despite the bleak future we know it is hurtling towards. This film can definitely be counted as one of the best prequels ever made.

‘Fury Road’ was spread over a few days but ‘Furiosa’ expands over a 15-year period. We first see Furiosa (Alyla Browne) as a young girl in a lush-green oasis. She is the progeny of peace-loving, post-apocalyptic survivors who have found green wealth by nurturing nature while all that surrounds them are vast wastelands, with inventive tribes using ‘guzzolene’ as the currency for food and water. So, when a biker horde finds the little girl holding what looks like an apple, they waste little time in capturing her for proof that there exists a hidden realm filled with homegrown food — wealth that can make renegade savages like Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), their crazily funny warlord, more powerful than even he imagined.

Since Furiosa refuses to talk and her abductors have all been killed brutally by her mother, Dementus’ only hope is to keep the girl alive and get someone to make her reveal the location of her tribe.

Miller’s follow-up to ‘Fury Road’ goes back in time to showcase power centres like Dementus and Immortan Joe and his Citadel, where an army of white-painted suicide warriors control the production of guzzolene. We see Dementus trade off the little girl for the control of fuel production. And later, Furiosa escapes captivity, pretends to be a boy and survives in the Citadel till she manages to make herself indispensable to Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke). That section though is a tad unconvincing. Probably, the only weak link in an otherwise sumptuous spread of blisteringly brutal and, sometimes even funny, savagery.

The narrative, split into five involving chapters, gets into action right from the very beginning. The most eye-popping action though comes when Praetorian Jack does the ‘Fury Road’ run to collect petrol from the refinery and Furiosa and Immortan Joe’s suicidal warriors help him survive what seems like a suicide mission — an all-out attack by the treacherous Dementus and his savage biker gang who suddenly stopped the regular run of food and water rations that were promised to Immortan Joe.

George Miller’s masterful craftsmanship leaves the audience literally eating out of his hands. The narrative is expansive and full of action set pieces, each one outclassing the other in style, scale and spectacle. This is a sort of road movie with much of the action coming at a furious pace.

The casting and all the tech specs are perfectly aligned to captivate and entertain. All the actors embody their respective characters and lend personality and fortitude when called for. Alyla Browne, Anya Taylor Joy and Chris Hemsworth are just some of the exceptional talents on display here. As a viewer, you get drawn in completely, totally ensnared in what happens on screen. Such intimacy in cinema is a rare occurrence. There’s never a dull moment here.

George Miller’s creation of a world we may never have imagined is so specific and detailed that it’s hard to believe that it doesn’t really exist. The characters fit into that desolate dystopian world beautifully. The action set pieces are so seamlessly woven into the story that you never feel that it is forced or unnecessary. The characters are all well-rounded, and the performers do wonderfully well to execute them with perfection. This film has great action, a beautifully imagined script, superb actors, enthralling drama, mind-boggling CGI, cinematography, sound and music. The editing allows for unrelenting pace, the costumes, prosthetics, styling, art and production design are all exceptional.

This is definitely an experience to die for — one in which George Miller reiterates his unparalleled ‘genius action filmmaker’ credentials!