Before the Fury

This past weekend, I headed off to the movie theater to sit in the rumbliest rumble seat I could find, to watch Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. This prequel film to Mad Max: Fury Road is writer-director George Miller's latest action fever dream brought to life before your eyes. If you love Fury Road, I imagine you could only like Furiosa as well. If, like me, you were a bit more middle-of-the-Fury-Road, then it might be harder to predict.

Certainly, there was a lot about it I did enjoy. Movies have become even more dependent on CG than they were 9 years ago, which only makes a movie like Furiosa, that feels more visceral and tactile, more welcome. It's not that Furiosa isn't using CG; of course it is. But a lot of the action is the work of real stunt performers, and everything about the movie is meant to fit as seamlessly as possible with that work.

And make no mistake, the action is the star of this movie. All manner of big stunts are here, a feast for the senses. There's phenomenal cinematography too, capturing all the action with perfect clarity while delivering numerous seemingly "impossible" camera shots both conspicuous and subtle. If you like movies that look great, Furiosa is for you.

As with Fury Road before it, story comes a distant second to spectacle. To the extent you become invested in the title character (and I mostly did), her adventures and hardships are compelling. But the story is pretty bare bones. Which would be fine, if the movie wasn't also two-and-a-half hours long. There's just not enough going on to justify the run time, not enough to have kept me fully engaged in the down time between big action sequences.

Also as with Mad Max: Fury Road, the purported title character doesn't really get to be the best character in "their" movie. Furiosa stole the show in Fury Road, bringing this prequel into existence. Here, Anya Taylor-Joy is saddled with being the stoic, mostly silent protagonist George Miller seems drawn to. But if the script keeps her constrained, that only leaves Chris Hemsworth free to chew the scenery as villain Dr. Dementus. It's the sort of flashy role that one suspects most Hollywood actors could have played "well enough," but Hemsworth gives it extra sauce in every scene, fully embracing the fun this movie is supposed to be.

I haven't actually watched Fury Road since it was new. (Though I've had the percussive, dramatic Tom Holkenborg in my shuffle the whole time. His soundtrack here will no doubt join it.) I'd probably need to watch it again to really "adjudicate" the question of which is better, Fury Road or Furiosa. But I felt like Furiosa was an entertaining B... which would seem to put it just a cut above Fury Road in my book. Either way, if you liked one, expect to like the other.