Susan Granger’s review of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.)
Australian director George Miller is an acknowledged master at staging propulsive action sequences – so why did his “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” flop at the box-office?
Costing $168 million – plus more for marketing – it launched the worst Memorial Day weekend result in 43 years, excluding when the coronavirus shut theaters. Subsequent weeks have not fared much better.
Since this is a prequel, speculation centers on the substitution of young Anya Taylor-Joy for Charlize Theron, who originated role, but Ms, Taylor Joy (“The Witch,” “The Queen’s Gambit”) actually does a creditable job in this origin story.
Instead, perhaps audiences had no desire to see a prequel since there’s little suspense about whether Furiosa survives. We already know that she does, making “Mad Max: Fury Road” into a 2015 hit.
Ignoring that obvious fact, George Miller and co-writer Nico Lathouris delve into a ravaged, post-apocalyptic world to tell Furiosa’s origin story in five chapters.
With barbarism creeping in all around them, 10 year-old Furiosa (Alyla Browne) and her mother, Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser), dwell in The Green Place of Many Mothers, an idyllic spot ruled by the Vuvalini, a benevolent matriarchy – until she’s kidnapped by the Biker Horde and delivered to Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), who lost his own family and still totes his daughter’s Teddy bear on his back.
When machete-wielding Mary tries to retrieve her daughter, she’s brutally killed. Her crucifixion imagery then haunts Furiosa’s life and ignites her desire for vengeance as Furiosa passes from one captor to another in the blighted wasteland.
Meanwhile, dim-witted Dementus is determined to gain control of the Citadel, the rocky stronghold of diseased Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). After suffering horrendous loses in his initial assault, Dementus teams up with Octoboss (Goran D. Kleut). And so it goes…high octane biker battle after biker battle…
As now-grown Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) becomes a full-fledged rebel, she finds a mentor in War Rig driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) and turns out to be the badass Imperator, relishing the vehicular choreography.
FYI: The “Mad Max” saga began in 1979 with Mel Gibson as highway patrol supercop Max Rockatansky, followed by “The Road Warrior” (1982) & “Beyond Thunderdome (1985). When Gibson’s misogynistic, anti-Semitic rants made him a liability, Tom Hardy took over the role.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” goes full throttle with a fierce 5 – playing in theaters.
