When Fury Road was released, it delivered by taking the Mad Max saga into a stratospheric level of action and practical effects. Despite the plot being one of the most linear for an actioner, it satisfied fans by both retaining Max's travails as part of the central plot, plus introducing Furiosa as the next butt kicking female action hero, worthy to stand alongside the likes of Ripley or Sara Conner. With that, it kicked the Mad Max universe into occupying a more ferocious gear. Sure, the wasteland remains the backdrop, but Fury Road's audacious action, monstrous vehicles and jaw dropping stunts, helped Max fans rejoice that their hero had found new life beyond the Mel Gibson years.
So, armed with six Oscars and a set of decent box office numbers for an R-rated fare, it seems fair game that, eight years later, George Miller returns with another chapter in the saga, in the form of Furiosa's origin story.
On account of how Miller had managed to elevate every release of the Mad Max saga into a higher experience, we have every right to expect Furiosa to do the same.
Alas, for there it falls apart.
Every other Mad Max instalment revved into high-octane action pretty much from the word 'go', without audiences needing to wait long intervals. That's not the case with Furiosa. Apart from a tame chase sequence at the beginning, which is a whimper when compared to the gargantuan action that defined other instalments, you need to wait bout 40-50 minutes before the familiar guzzoline-soaked engines kick into high gear. And when they do, it doesn't have anything we haven't seen before. Furiosa' action portion is more of a been there, done that.
Now, that itself is not a bad thing. The John Wick sequels too, offered pretty much the same in the shootout department. But JW retained interesting characters to color our experience along the way. Plus, every now and then, each JW sequel managed to introduce something novel in the action sections. Furious fails at this.
There are lengthy down - time moments in-between action scenes, filled with back stories and dialogues. At times, such moments are even filled with pseudo philosophical rhetoric, if only to help us feel more for the character. That's doesn't cut it for a series that has always maintained action at its core.
Even then, earlier Mad Maxes filled spaces in between the action, with colorful characters. Supporting characters had enough charm to make us drawn to them. I still remember the Feral Kid, the Gyro Captain, Aunty Entity, Humungus, Immortan Joe, Rectus (the Fury Road versions).
Hardly anyone from Furiosa registers. The younger Immortan and Rectus only occupy narrative space in the film, their parts made up of family meetings and snarling around. The role of the colorful character is left to Chris Helmsworth's Dementus, but his Dementus is a hodge podge of traits, and so, hard to pin down. He is over-the-top, has weird fashion sensibility (walks around with a teddy bear on his belt - what does that even mean??), cruel yet funny, visionary and yet foolish.
As for Anna Taylor, she may be a credible actress in other projects, but her Furiosa lacks the screen presence found in Gibson's, Hardy's and Theron's portrayal of their respective characters. And every other Mad Max series also stood on the shoulder of their lead's screen presence. This is therefore, not the right vehicle for Taylor, if she wants to venture off into actioners.
Furiosa also fails at its logic; for e.g. How does she continue to ride a bike with one arm in the wasteland, when she had just lost her other arm? Any other person would have died from blood loss. Why doesn't she speak a lot? I mean, is it a common trait in the Mad Max saga that its leads say very little? Was it necessary to have Tom Burke's Praetorian Jack as a Max look alike? At least, Burke's Jack seemed to provide some emotional connectivity that otherwise is near zilch elsewhere. But his role is too limited to elevate the rest of Furiosa.
The plot also fails ending to explain why Furiosa ends up hating Immortan Joe, when, for the most part of the movie, she seems to have settled into live at the Citadel.
Ultimately, the movie's feel can be summed up with Dementus' quote, when he asks Furiosa "Do you have it in you to make it epic?"
Sadly, this is one Mad Max entry that couldn't.
So, armed with six Oscars and a set of decent box office numbers for an R-rated fare, it seems fair game that, eight years later, George Miller returns with another chapter in the saga, in the form of Furiosa's origin story.
On account of how Miller had managed to elevate every release of the Mad Max saga into a higher experience, we have every right to expect Furiosa to do the same.
Alas, for there it falls apart.
Every other Mad Max instalment revved into high-octane action pretty much from the word 'go', without audiences needing to wait long intervals. That's not the case with Furiosa. Apart from a tame chase sequence at the beginning, which is a whimper when compared to the gargantuan action that defined other instalments, you need to wait bout 40-50 minutes before the familiar guzzoline-soaked engines kick into high gear. And when they do, it doesn't have anything we haven't seen before. Furiosa' action portion is more of a been there, done that.
Now, that itself is not a bad thing. The John Wick sequels too, offered pretty much the same in the shootout department. But JW retained interesting characters to color our experience along the way. Plus, every now and then, each JW sequel managed to introduce something novel in the action sections. Furious fails at this.
There are lengthy down - time moments in-between action scenes, filled with back stories and dialogues. At times, such moments are even filled with pseudo philosophical rhetoric, if only to help us feel more for the character. That's doesn't cut it for a series that has always maintained action at its core.
Even then, earlier Mad Maxes filled spaces in between the action, with colorful characters. Supporting characters had enough charm to make us drawn to them. I still remember the Feral Kid, the Gyro Captain, Aunty Entity, Humungus, Immortan Joe, Rectus (the Fury Road versions).
Hardly anyone from Furiosa registers. The younger Immortan and Rectus only occupy narrative space in the film, their parts made up of family meetings and snarling around. The role of the colorful character is left to Chris Helmsworth's Dementus, but his Dementus is a hodge podge of traits, and so, hard to pin down. He is over-the-top, has weird fashion sensibility (walks around with a teddy bear on his belt - what does that even mean??), cruel yet funny, visionary and yet foolish.
As for Anna Taylor, she may be a credible actress in other projects, but her Furiosa lacks the screen presence found in Gibson's, Hardy's and Theron's portrayal of their respective characters. And every other Mad Max series also stood on the shoulder of their lead's screen presence. This is therefore, not the right vehicle for Taylor, if she wants to venture off into actioners.
Furiosa also fails at its logic; for e.g. How does she continue to ride a bike with one arm in the wasteland, when she had just lost her other arm? Any other person would have died from blood loss. Why doesn't she speak a lot? I mean, is it a common trait in the Mad Max saga that its leads say very little? Was it necessary to have Tom Burke's Praetorian Jack as a Max look alike? At least, Burke's Jack seemed to provide some emotional connectivity that otherwise is near zilch elsewhere. But his role is too limited to elevate the rest of Furiosa.
The plot also fails ending to explain why Furiosa ends up hating Immortan Joe, when, for the most part of the movie, she seems to have settled into live at the Citadel.
Ultimately, the movie's feel can be summed up with Dementus' quote, when he asks Furiosa "Do you have it in you to make it epic?"
Sadly, this is one Mad Max entry that couldn't.
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