Furiosa—A Mad Max Duology
Where Mad Max himself becomes passé
In 2015, the Mad Max series of movies got an unexpected, and very successful, update with Fury Road1. Now, nine years later, the sequel finally arrived: Furiosa2. A dystopian nightmare with a heavy metal sensibility in which the original Mad Max all but disappears as the focus is now firmly on the new heroine: Furiosa.
Heavy Metal esthetics.
While the original Mad Max trilogy wasn’t exactly subtle, producer George Miller cranked both the stunts and the sheer metalness of Fury Road to eleven3. I mean, going into battle with live metal blaring from a rig specifically made to carry a wall of speakers? Metal!
While the Coma-Doof Warrior with his flame-throwing guitar4 was undoubtedly the most over-the-top metal highlight of Fury Road, the honour for that in Furiosa goes to Dementus’s war chariot which is pulled by three motorbikes. Full Metal Chariot!
While the over-the-top metal esthetic is gloriously maintained, some of its predecessor’s wacky humour has lossed some of its sharpness. No shouts of ‘mediocre!’ when a War Boy underperforms, although naming the main villain ‘Dementus5’ makes up somewhat for that. And any metal band worth its weight in lead would be gagging for a front man with Dementus’s (especially the younger version) looks.
Homage(s).
Where Fury Road pays homage to Herman Melville by featuring the Citadel’s huge war rig as a Moby Dick to Immortan Joe’s Captain Ahab, I think the homage in Furiosa is, both direct and indirectly, to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. I’m talking about the penultimate scene where Furiosa confronts Dementus, wondering if she should kill him outright as Dementus points out that this would make her just the same as him.
This is reminiscent of the Joker taunting Batman in The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight avoided that by Batman not killing the Joker (who basically was a force of nature), Furiosa side-steps it by using Dementus as the fertile ground for the seed she can finally plant (foreshadowed throughout the movie).
Make no mistake, I think Chris Hemsworth6 slightly outshines Anya Taylor-Joy (although not quite as much as Charlize Theron out-acted Tom Hardy in Fury Road. Her soot-encircled eyes alone acted circles around the stony and stoic Hardy. IMHO she should’ve won an Oscar for that). He also turns Dementus into a conflicted villain, who mostly is an insane gang leader, but who sometimes has moments of clarity in which he imagines himself to be a force for the good.
Furthermore, one could squint and see the romance between Furiosa and Praetorian Jack as a dystopian version of Romeo and Juliet, where both Romeo and Juliet almost pack it in-several times—until Romeo dies. Yet this Juliet is way too tough to consider suicide.
Continuity.
There are many comments proclaiming the movie for being too long. As a storyteller, I disagree. Furiosa takes pains to carefully connect this story with that of Fury Road. Furiosa being kidnapped from the oasis that is the Vuvalini’s homestead, her relentless silence on not betraying her homeland—this is where Alyla Browne—acting as the young Furiosa—excels. Eyes as intense and penetrating as Charlize Theron’s in the sequel. Phenomenal.
It’s highly refreshing to see a movie that combines good storytelling with exceptional action scenes—a very rare combination. A section7 that mainly shows character development: I encourage more of this. But all too often it’s assumed that the junior version of a character will automatically develop into the experienced, highly competent senior version. I really like it that they showed Furiosa’s development, even if it added some thirty minutes to the movie.
Finally, as Furiosa ends, we see how many of the seeds planted in Furiosa are harvested in Fury Road. Fury road is the superior movie of the two, and these intricate links only emphasise that. Yet Furiosa is a great movie in its own right, and if you’ve seen neither I strongly recommend you see Furiosa first, and then Fury Road. It’ll be a fantastic experience8.
What’s next?
The final question is, how does this saga continue? Another prequel featuring Furiosa is basically impossible, so the only way is forward. That is where the greatest challenge and largest gains are. During Fury Road, Furiosa—once well away from the Citadel’s War Rig full of War Boys, finds that the oasis in which she was born has become another wasteland. So she has no choice but to return to the Citadel and take on Immortan Joe. After a spectacular fight, her people win and she becomes the new leader of the Citadel.
If there is a final part of a Furiosa trilogy—is anybody missing Mad Max?—then, narratively speaking, this could be the one where we see a Citadel turned into an oasis with a just society led by an older Furiosa, which might be, once again, played by Charlize Theron.
I imagine that this new Citadel will face another formidable foe—this time, a wily female one?—where this could be a metaphor where the forces of fascism (an enemy with clear fascist behaviour) fight the forces a a newly-forged democracy, and the good ones win, possibly by the greatest sacrifice. Thus, throughout the movie, Furiosa prepares her follow-up (who? Maybe an Aboriginal Australian actor like, say, Madeline Madden? ), who eventually secures the victory after Furiosa dies, sacrificing herself for her community.
Maybe even a citadel that introduces solar panels (after finding a blueprint for them) and subsequently utilising them for electric power in the many grottoes of the Citadel, introducing batteries for electric vehicles and lightning effects during highway battles, lessening their dependency of Gastown’s fuel while maintaining maximum spectacle. An optimistic SF writer can dream.
Nevertheless, most probably the box office will have the final say about this. So far, Furiosa has made $147.3 million on a budget of $168 million, while Fury Road eventually had earnings of $380.4 million on a budget of $185.2 million. By the normal Hollywood rules a third movie will not be given a fiat9. However, since Furiosa was mainly financed by Australian sources (with a keen eye towards how much employment it would bring), there might be a chance that they’ll consider a third one if it keeps bringing in more box office returns. I live in hope10, and you can help by checking out this great movie in the cinema.
Finally, I watched this movie in 2D (never been a great fan of 3D) and in a showing that was advertised as a ‘soft sound screening’, meaning that the sound was toned down, the lights weren’t fully dimmed and—this was the best—nothing before the actual movie started. No ads, no trailers from movies to come—the movie started two minutes after the the promised starting time of 14.00 hrs, which I’ll gladly forgive. I realise this type of showing is meant for people who will be triggered by overtly loud sounds and massive light effects, and I’m happy that these people can go to the cinema throught these soft sound screenings. And I loved it: no half-hour (or longer) barrage of ads, trailers and other time-wasters, but start directly with the main programme. On top of that, there was a 15-minute break in the middle which made a quick toilet visit and a refreshment of the refreshments possible. In other words, close to ideal. I’ll be keeping an eye out to ‘soft sound screenings’ of movies I’d like to see in the cinema.
Author’s note: welcome to another subscriber and another follower, hope you enjoy it here! The summer finally seems to arrive here in The Netherlands (hope the heatwaves in other places subside) and hope yours will, as well. Many thanks for reading!
Officially Mad Max: Fury Road;
Officially: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga;
If I have to explain from which mockumentary this reference originates, then you are not a true metal fan…;-)
Originally iOTA (Sean Hape) produced a flamethrower in the shape of a guitar, then was taken abck when producer George Miller told him to make it work as a guitar, as well (metal!);
And other names likes Rictus Erectus, Crotus, Smeg, Chumbucket, Octoboss and titles like Organic Mechanic;
As I type this—in between two Euro 2024 matches—I notice a Boss ad (for male perfumes) lead by Chris Hemsworth during the rest breaks. Sorry, Chris, but I’ll stick to my light blue from Dolce and Gabbana and Terre d’Hermes;
Chapter II: Lessons from the Wasteland;
For which I will envy you. I mean that in the best way possible;
Not the Italian car;
And certainly hope Miller doesn’t return to Mad Max, as Tom Hardy can’t act his way out of a cardboard box;