We went to see Furiosa at the Alamo Drafthouse this afternoon. This is the fifth, and most recent, installment in George Miller’s Mad Max franchise. Even if you have not seen it yet, you probably know that it serves as a prequel to Fury Road. It also has all of the same wasteland factions and many of the same actors and characters.
This movie answers many questions that we entertained in Fury Road. Thing such as:
- Where was the green place of the many mothers?
- How did Furiosa come into hands of the Homongus, Immortan Joe, of the Citadel?
- Once in the Citadel, why didn’t Furiosa become a breeder or milk producer?
- Where did the biker gangs that attacked the War Rig in Fury Road come from?
- How was the War Rig built?
- Where did the Citadel get its gasoline?
- How did Furiosa lose her arm?
All of these questions and many others that you may have had and that didn’t even occur to me are part of this backstory. The tale is told in five chapters – each capable of standing alone quite complete. The first chapter deals with Furiosa as a tween (Alyla Browne) living in the green place. The second chapter deals with Furiosa, still a child, living among Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and his marauding biker hoarde. The third chapter deals with Furiosa as a young woman (Anya Taylor-Joy) living among the War Boys and various specialists in the Citadel. The fourth chapter introduces two fortresses other than the Citadel – Gastown and the Bullet Farm. The last chapter fills the gaps that lead us to the start of Fury Road.
I enjoyed the non-stop action drama – especially all the shit blowing up. The musical score was very spare with lots of low-pitched string ostinato and a driving beat that blended percussion with growling synthesizer very much like what we heard in Fury Road. The sounds layered on the score are those of diesel and V8 gasoline engines, revving motorcycles, wheel noises, explosions including bullet rounds, propellers, miscellaneous pyrotechnics, and vehicles being destroyed. The number of ways that one can inflict mayhem on a truck, car, motorcycle, paraglider, ultralight, and its occupant(s) are breathtaking.
The names of various characters were also fun: Dementus, Immortan Joe, Praetorian Jack, Scrotus, Rictus Erectus, and Smeg – just to mention the most outrageous. The final credits intersperse scenes from Fury Road with those of Furiosa. It’s a very effective recapitulation of both stories.
I don’t know whether this is a genre that you enjoy, but if Fury Road was a 10, then Furiosa lies somewhere between 9.8 and 10.2. It’s mostly a matter of taste.
I myself am going with 10.1 and a bowl of buttered popcorn dialed up to 11.