Cannes 2024: George Miller’s ‘Furiosa’ is Action Cinema at its Finest
by Alex Billington
May 16, 2024
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Start your engines!” Strap in, grab your chrome, and get ready for one of the best action movies of this decade! George Miller’s action masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road is already known as one of the best action movies of the 2010s. I’m ecstatic to report that his follow-up prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is officially as good as Fury Road in every single way. Believe the hype!! Furiosa is almost TWO entire Fury Road’s packed into one movie. Holy smoke it rules!! George Miller did it. He really went and did it and made another one of the best action movies ever made all over again. Maestro!! 👏 This isn’t even a surprise. I’d have been much more surprised if it didn’t live up to the hype and/or was not as good. The word from Down Under where they shot Furiosa is that even the crew was excited to be working on this movie, which Miller has been wanting to make for years even before he directed Fury Road. And it shows; it shows in every single shot, in every stunt, in every performance, in every aspect of this instant action classic.
Furiosa is once again directed by George Miller, and written by George Miller & Nick Lathouris. It connects directly to Fury Road as a prequel, focusing on the character of Imperator Furiosa – as played by Charlize Theron in Fury Road. In this one, Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy both star as Furiosa (at different ages) expanding upon her backstory, taking audiences further into the adventure of “who she is” within the post-apocalyptic wasteland context of the Mad Max series. Who is she? A badass warrior woman from the “green place” who’s taken by Dementus and his tribe of motorcycle maniacs. Dementus is the more amazing character, played by Chris Hemsworth. He’s the real menace in the wasteland, messing with the balance of power between the three zones: Gas Town, the Bullet Farm, and The Citadel run by Immortan Joe. They end up in a brutally violent war with Dementus, and Furiosa is caught in the middle of it, eventually joining with Immortan Joe, which is where she is when Fury Road kicks off. There is so much more storytelling in this movie, focusing primarily on the emotional stakes and character arcs in addition to all the crazy action.
George Miller’s Furiosa is glorious, gas-guzzling, sand-filled, breathtaking action cinema. It features world building at its best. Action filmmaking at its best. Mythology at its best. Make-up & costumes at their best. Performances at their best. Stunts at their best. Badass desert vehicles galore at their best. Visual splendor that’s instantly ratified as an iconic entry in movie history. And this is after Fury Road also being all of these things, too. I don’t know how he does it! I’m thoroughly blown away by all of the action! As every other critic has pointed, yes this has an entirely different pace and structure. It’s not one long, all-out action sequence to-and-from The Citadel this time. It’s a more extensive 2 & 1/2 hours, and goes from action sequence to world building sequence, smoothly drifting between them as the story follows Furiosa and Dementus and expands upon the mythology of the wasteland. It’s absolutely possible that some viewers will not enjoy the pacing in this as much, as it can feel like it drags like the way they chain up people and drag them from the back of their vehicles. But Miller’s sense of storytelling is so immaculate, the rest of it is just as fascinating.
He’s had plenty of great roles over the last decade, but this might be my favorite Chris Hemsworth character yet. He rocks a jaw-dropping performance for the ages as this bearded madman. An unforgettable lunatic! Love love love him in this. Perfection. Absolutely the best character in the movie, often stealing the thunder from Furiosa. My only actual criticism is that the ending it is a bit shaggier (than Fury Road) and runs a tad too long, losing steam in a few scenes. And I prefer almost every other performance in it over Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance. However, these are minor issues in what is an otherwise extraordinary action movie. The stunt work and action choreography is truly “blow you away” phenomenal, with so many sequences leaving me breathless in their exhilarating glory. I cannot wait to watch this again on the big screen, as I think it will only get better with each viewing. This is the pinnacle of action cinema! This is how great all action should aspire to be! In George Miller We Trust. Once again taking us into the wasteland on an invigorating crusade.
Alex’s Cannes 2024 Rating: 9.8 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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