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FURIOSA: A MAD MAX Saga | Review Thread (It's Another Masterpiece)

I also saw it today in IMAX. If Fury Road is an S ranking, Furiosa is an A-.

This is a lore/world building movie marketed as a Furiosa movie, much like how Mad Max was marketed as the star of Fury Road. That’s all I can say without spoiling, but those who understand know exactly what I’m comparing and why I am comparing them, because they know that both situations are similar.

This movie feels like it’s trying to blend the high octane nature of Fury Road with the slower story/lore/character moments of older Mad Max movies, and it does the job really well.

I only have 3 negatives:

-There were a bit too many fade to black moments between scenes.
-Some of the CG looked a bit spotty, especially the far away shots of people running or driving motorcycles. Hoping it’s worked on a bit more before home release.
-The 40 day war being summarized in the way that it was. I understand why, but it could have been done better. It almost killed the momentum of the multi-tiered plot and tension between factions.

Everything else was a blast to watch. I walked out of the theater wanting much more from this insane world that George Miller created. I also am hoping there will be an extended edition/director’s cut due to moments that could have been expanded upon. It felt like he wanted to make a much longer movie and I would very much enjoy 2 more hours of this.
 

ahtlas7

Member
Everything else was a blast to watch. I walked out of the theater wanting much more from this insane world that George Miller created. I also am hoping there will be an extended edition/director’s cut due to moments that could have been expanded upon. It felt like he wanted to make a much longer movie and I would very much enjoy 2 more hours of this.
I completely agree. I discussed this with one of the people I saw it with. The movie feels heavily edited. There must be lots on the cutting room floor.
 

AGRacing

Member
No I’m sure your 4 year old nephew got the “jokes” just fine, but jokes are meant to make people laugh so he likely got confused.
Happy Garfield And Friends GIF by Maudit
 

Sybrix

Gold Member
I also saw it today in IMAX. If Fury Road is an S ranking, Furiosa is an A-.

This is a lore/world building movie marketed as a Furiosa movie, much like how Mad Max was marketed as the star of Fury Road. That’s all I can say without spoiling, but those who understand know exactly what I’m comparing and why I am comparing them, because they know that both situations are similar.

This movie feels like it’s trying to blend the high octane nature of Fury Road with the slower story/lore/character moments of older Mad Max movies, and it does the job really well.

I only have 3 negatives:

-There were a bit too many fade to black moments between scenes.
-Some of the CG looked a bit spotty, especially the far away shots of people running or driving motorcycles. Hoping it’s worked on a bit more before home release.
-The 40 day war being summarized in the way that it was. I understand why, but it could have been done better. It almost killed the momentum of the multi-tiered plot and tension between factions.

Everything else was a blast to watch. I walked out of the theater wanting much more from this insane world that George Miller created. I also am hoping there will be an extended edition/director’s cut due to moments that could have been expanded upon. It felt like he wanted to make a much longer movie and I would very much enjoy 2 more hours of this.

This is pretty much how i saw it.

It's a great movie, Fury Road is perfection. Furiosa is just below.

To me, Fury Road is a 10 out of 10, Furiosa is 8.5 out of 10.
 

Doczu

Member
Watched the movie yesterday with my wife and bro in law. Only 9 people in (Poland), bro hasn't seen any Mad Max movie before.

We liked it very much. It was a nicely crafted movie and we left the cinema satisfied but i understand why it bombed. The general public might have wanted to see another Max movie and a lot of people around me told they would rather wait a month or two and stream it as tickets are quite costly and the snacks just make the price of entry crazy high.

Nevertheless, good stuff
 
I'm glad Miller was able to make the movie he wanted from long before he even made Fury Road. However it's visually inconsistent and the characters are all really flat except Hemsworth's funny warlord. Action scenes have some great ideas behind them just like Fury Road but the execution was far off. Heard the budget is the about the same but since the scope is so much bigger clearly something had to give.
 

TVexperto

Member
Seems like they abandoned a lot of the drive for real stunts and backdrops with Furiosa. Action scenes were still intense and entertaining but when held up against Fury Road the quality seems "less genuine". They almost rub it in your face in the post credits when they play clips from Fury Road and you can clearly and easily tell how much more "real" the action was.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Seems like they abandoned a lot of the drive for real stunts and backdrops with Furiosa. Action scenes were still intense and entertaining but when held up against Fury Road the quality seems "less genuine". They almost rub it in your face in the post credits when they play clips from Fury Road and you can clearly and easily tell how much more "real" the action was.
Yeah, that was a TERRIBLE decision, it just made me want to watch Fury Road more.

We really just needed a scene of ATJ coming out of a pool of water, oil, whatever, with a slicked down see through shirt. Sex appeal would have boosted this film a lot, I think. The Mad Max series isn't known for that but in this case I think it would have helped...me at least :p
 
Am I tripping or were there obvious fast-forward parts especially during fight scenes? Im sure it was for effect but it comes out of nowhere and lasts like 2-3 seconds and its so noticeable and out of place.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Am I tripping or were there obvious fast-forward parts especially during fight scenes? Im sure it was for effect but it comes out of nowhere and lasts like 2-3 seconds and its so noticeable and out of place.
That's a classic editing trick to make slow moving elements seem more dynamic and exciting. I noticed it In the film as well, it was like seeing an old friend as you dont see it much these days with all the cg.
 

YCoCg

Member
Seems like they abandoned a lot of the drive for real stunts and backdrops with Furiosa. Action scenes were still intense and entertaining but when held up against Fury Road the quality seems "less genuine". They almost rub it in your face in the post credits when they play clips from Fury Road and you can clearly and easily tell how much more "real" the action was.
A lot of this was filmed under COVID conditions which is one of the reasons why they went so hard with the CG.
 

Jaybe

Member
The overwhelming praise in this thread has be interested. I’ll see it Tuesday.
Watched Fury Road on the weekend to remind myself. What a stellar film that was. Just finished Furiosa and thought it was a 3 out of 5. Caught it at an IMAX theatre (not that it’s imax ratio, but figured the better sound system and bigger screen would help.i enjoyed the set up and world building and its flow into Fury Road. Liked seeing a lot of the same characters. Not many movies are shot like Miller’s Mad Max so it still feels fresh. Nice big action piece in the middle. But Maybe it was the characters or seemingly less wry humour or the run time but it was a fair bit boring for stretches. Still glad I gave it a go in theatre though.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I thought the action scenes were phenomenal. No one shoots action quite like James Cameron and George Miller. I liked the world building but they give Furiosa very little to do or say. I think they gave too many lines to chris hemsworth and not enough to Anna Taylor Joy. Shes probably an even better actor than Hemsworth so she couldve handled a more challenging workload.

Yeah, its not as good as Fury Road but its still a masterpiece. CG in trailers was so bad but very good here. A lot of the scenes in the trailers were clearly not finished and screamed CG/green screen but they are mostly fine here with some very rare exceptions but thats ok because even fury road had those. The trailers really doomed the movie. I loved the first movie and almost didnt go see this. Whats weird is that the first movie had the best trailers, especially the comic con one that went viral and made the movie a guaranteed success. no idea what happened here.

The big rig chase scene was insane. Movie couldve used one more big chase scene but im ok with the action to story ratio. mad max was too much action.

It sucks that the movie took 8 years to make and that we will never see another one like this. probably ever with George Miller pretty much done for his career. I think they shouldve made this a mad max movie instead of a furiosa movie. there isnt much here for the character to do so not sure why they made her the lead in the first place.
 
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YCoCg

Member
Someone told me to watch this before Furyroad and it comes together....
The final part of the movie leads directly into the events of Fury Road to the point where shots from Fury Road are spliced in and you can see the "improvement" if less green screen.
 

Scotty W

Banned
To an extent, the avatar theory has always been true, the folx watching Prometheus Bound saw themselves as Prometheus, etc. It seems modern movies work explicitly with a very literal avatar model. The character that looks like me is me, etc.

What is unique about the modern age is the bizarre belief that people can only identify with what they perceive to be their own class. Historically, this is nonsense, going back as far as Aeschylus writing a tragedy sympathizing with the Persians who had just tried to kill him.

So what we are left with today is, Hollywood pitting avatars against one another onscreen, frequently in an attempt to make those who have no choice but to identify and approve their avatar feel correspondingly good or bad about themselves. The smart directors walk a tightrope- we know you hate this, but we are only going to push this to the point just before you reject it.

Dementus is such a rich character, it is a shame to see him wasted in an attempt to demoralize you. Imagine him in a Richard iii type role. But here he is the bad white Jesus, therefore you are bad.

Notice the good guy, I forget his name, the driver guy, has no motivation? Notice that he is also asexual? Like, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen comes around and he wants to help her just because? An absurdity, but as an avatar, the message to you is: you must be a eunuch to be good.

We are all so inured to the sight of an ass kicking female character, that we have forgotten how ridiculous it is. But what I can’t get over is this beautiful girl boss, walking around these extremely wild men so young dumb and full of cum and they just…respect her?

It is too much! The absurdity is too much!
 

DKehoe

Member
Dementus is such a rich character, it is a shame to see him wasted in an attempt to demoralize you. Imagine him in a Richard iii type role. But here he is the bad white Jesus, therefore you are bad.
What do you mean an attempt to demoralise you? I don't think men are meant to see ourselves in him.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Dementus is amoral, vicious, selfish, self-aggrandizing, and incompetent at everything other than using the unwashed hordes of Australians to his personal advantage. He's basically a Fist of the North Star sub-boss.

Praetorian Jack is the hero archetype and steals all of his scenes. I don't see any sort of demoralizing ideological message in this one. Just a good movie.
 

NecrosaroIII

Ultimate DQ Fan
To an extent, the avatar theory has always been true, the folx watching Prometheus Bound saw themselves as Prometheus, etc. It seems modern movies work explicitly with a very literal avatar model. The character that looks like me is me, etcDementus is such a rich character, it is a shame to see him wasted in an attempt to demoralize you. Imagine him in a Richard iii type role. But here he is the bad white Jesus, therefore you are bad.

Notice the good guy, I forget his name, the driver guy, has no motivation? Notice that he is also asexual? Like, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen comes around and he wants to help her just because? An absurdity, but as an avatar, the message to you is: you must be a eunuch to be good.
1 - You're overthinking it brother.
2 - Its strongly implied that Jack and Furiosa are lovers. In any case, romance was never a big theme of this franchise. By your definition, Max is asexual because he never showed sexual interest in anyone, besides his wife in the first movie.
 
Dementus is amoral, vicious, selfish, self-aggrandizing, and incompetent at everything other than using the unwashed hordes of Australians to his personal advantage. He's basically a Fist of the North Star sub-boss.

Praetorian Jack is the hero archetype and steals all of his scenes. I don't see any sort of demoralizing ideological message in this one. Just a good movie.

One thing I liked about Dementus' portrayal was he had that classic flaw where he very capable of getting what he wanted but he has absolutely no ability to maintain once settled. The out of control Gastown scene was particularly fun in showing how worthless a guy like this is when not focused on conquest.

And yeah Praetorian Jack is basically the old martial arts master archetype or heck, even an Obi-Wan. Likeable and capable but he exists to elevate the hero into a place where they can venture onward without him. They didn't pull any fast ones with him or use humiliation to elevate Furiosa. Good character.

Its strongly implied that Jack and Furiosa are lovers. In any case, romance was never a big theme of this franchise. By your definition, Max is asexual because he never showed sexual interest in anyone, besides his wife in the first movie.

I'd argue it's more than implied though I find this movie strangely afraid of displaying that kind of affection. Like Furiosa's aforementioned relationship with Jack or her implied lesbian mother+other lady. They both have specific moments where as humans you'd kiss but the movie wont do that and just has them press their foreheads together. Like what, are they trying to sell this movie to India or something? Let them kiss, it'll make the loss ever so slightly stronger. =P
 

GudOlRub

Member
Just got home from watching the movie, it does not hit the same highs as Fury Road but I absolutely adored it nonetheless, I'm a simple guy, I see people and cars blow up in a spectacular fashion and I smile from ear to ear.
Breaks my heart seeing that it is bombing hard, if a 3rd one doesn't get made because of this then we deserve the superhero rehashing garbage that studios love to make non-stop.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I'd argue it's more than implied though I find this movie strangely afraid of displaying that kind of affection. Like Furiosa's aforementioned relationship with Jack or her implied lesbian mother+other lady. They both have specific moments where as humans you'd kiss but the movie wont do that and just has them press their foreheads together. Like what, are they trying to sell this movie to India or something? Let them kiss, it'll make the loss ever so slightly stronger. =P
Agreed, the forehead press didn’t make much sense in that moment. He’s not from her Amazonian village. He’s clearly into her, go for the kiss.

The modern feminine empowerment stuff, as mild as it is here, always falls short by discarding some of its core humanity. No kissing or love scenes even when it would make obvious sense and strengthen the character development. Furiosa shrugs off horrific battle damage despite being a 98 lb Dior model who can’t hold a sniper rifle without wobbling it all over, because strong women don’t show any emotions. No visible grief or loss shown anywhere.

Having humanity isn’t weakness.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Furiosa shrugs off horrific battle damage despite being a 98 lb Dior model who can’t hold a sniper rifle without wobbling it all over, because strong women don’t show any emotions. No visible grief or loss shown anywhere.

Tangential, but I was watching a video the other day of a muay thai female boxer, who had quite a slight frame, but whose muscles looked as hard as a fucking rock. I would have zero issues with a women with that kind of physique kicking the shit out of multiple men in a movie.

Why do the Hollywood women not engage with the kinds of training regimes that would make them look more believable? Male action stars have always had to do it to look convincing.

A lot of the backlash against female action protagonists would probably go away, if the actresses put more work in to look and act the part. I have to wonder why, given how many personal trainers there are, that this doesn't happen.
 
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Scotty W

Banned
1 - You're overthinking it brother.
2 - Its strongly implied that Jack and Furiosa are lovers. In any case, romance was never a big theme of this franchise. By your definition, Max is asexual because he never showed sexual interest in anyone, besides his wife in the first movie.
How do you get someone to swallow a bitter pill? Hide it in a sweet pill. Thus it is with propaganda.

Do you think women and girls are meant to identify with Furiosa?

I think this is undeniable. This is an industry wide trend. As I outlined above, the industry is working with a very literal model of avatars: if he/she looks like me, I have no choice but to identify. It is stupid- Homer for example showed no bias to the Greeks or Trojans- but that is the avatar model they are working with.

The heroine avatar is meant to empower girls and women. All I am saying is, if so, then maybe they also want men to identify with this hero, and huh, isn’t that interesting, he’s got no toxic masculinity.

Max is different from Jack. From what I can recall of the films after the first, Max’s motivation is to be entirely alone, only reluctantly getting caught up in other people’s causes. He helps in order to rid his conscience of these people. Jack is a bit like Finn in Star Wars, he is good BECAUSE he is good.

Accepting that Dementus is also meant to be an avatar is more difficult, but it is true. It might be more convincing to look at other cases where you are meant to identify with your avatar and feel guilty.

The actual Avatar films from James Cameron are good examples of this, where the people who look like me are bumbling scientists, mendaciously destroying the planet. Hey, I am not particularly environmentally conscious, I must be a bad person too. Or, I watched Elysium with someone from Argentina, who afterward insinuated that I might be similar to the callous residents of Elysium who let the folx in the third world suffer. It is absolutely crucial that the identification with the villain avatar and the guilt by association be automatic and unconscious. If it is too overt, it will be laughed at rejected. This might explain the reaction to Ken in the Barbie movie fwiu.

Of course, this doesn’t prove that Dementus is meant to be identified with (please remember that this is meant to be automatic and unconscious), but it should demonstrate that it is IN PRINCIPLE, possible.

And if possible, then maybe actual. And if actual, then demoralization.
 

Woggleman

Member
Tangential, but I was watching a video the other day of a muay thai female boxer, who had quite a slight frame, but whose muscles looked as hard as a fucking rock. I would have zero issues with a women with that kind of physique kicking the shit out of multiple men in a movie.

Why do the Hollywood women not engage with the kinds of training regimes that would make them look more believable? Male action stars have always had to do it to look convincing.

A lot of the backlash against female action protagonists would probably go away, if the actresses put more work in to look and act the part. I have to wonder why, given how many personal trainers there are, that this doesn't happen.
This is a game so the example is a bit different but Abby is TLOU2 looks imposing and strong and she gets a ton of crap about her physique. Aloy is built like a gymnast and people crap on her appearance.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
A lot of the backlash against female action protagonists would probably go away, if the actresses put more work in to look and act the part. I have to wonder why, given how many personal trainers there are, that this doesn't happen.
Because they don't have to. We have become conditioned to slightly built women being able to hold up their spindly little arm and stop a downward chop COLD and a little slap of their dainty hand knocking a guy through a wall. Why spend time in a gym for one action role when they can just do cocaine and diet to stay thin and that works for ALL their roles?

Guys know that getting into shredded shape helps them no matter what role they have, so they are willing to do the PEDs and put in the work. But a woman, especially a non-athlete to start with, has a muuuuuuch longer road ahead of her to be convincing and casting directors just don't care. Hell, Hemsworth's wife was in the very beginning and just her running showed more dynamic capability than ATJ in the entire film. Sadly she is saddled with a bad accent because she is quite good at the action stuff.

The near ubiquitous "forehead touch" is an odd thing to see so prevalent today. Unless it is a strong cultural thing in China or someplace, it's just an invented motion to replace kissing or hugging as it keeps both actors faces visible and usually allows for a bit of dialogue. But I just assume that anytime unrelated characters do it, it is a replacement for a passionate kiss. So PJ and Furiosa were absolutely knocking boots.

My issue with PJ is that we never see him teach Furiosa ANYTHING and his death is casually done off screen. So he isn't really a proper mentor figure or Max stand-in, his main role is to get fridged as if Furiosa doesn't already have enough motivation to kill Dementus. Even his "sacrifice" at bullettown is silly because all he had to do is run under the gate and they would have had as much of a head start as they got after all the fighting, plus Dementus had no real reason to chase them if all they did was show up with a truck and then run away, while he DID after they trashed the....foundry? in Bullettown. But this is a common issue with film, the "I'll stay and hold them back" person usually buys about 5 seconds of time because the fleeing character dwaddles so long and wastes the sacrifice.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Tangential, but I was watching a video the other day of a muay thai female boxer, who had quite a slight frame, but whose muscles looked as hard as a fucking rock. I would have zero issues with a women with that kind of physique kicking the shit out of multiple men in a movie.

Why do the Hollywood women not engage with the kinds of training regimes that would make them look more believable? Male action stars have always had to do it to look convincing.

A lot of the backlash against female action protagonists would probably go away, if the actresses put more work in to look and act the part. I have to wonder why, given how many personal trainers there are, that this doesn't happen.
I saw an interview with her and she trained for like 8 months to get ready for this role. I think they dont want female actors taking steroids like those roided out male superheroes because it will make them look like shit. Neil kept asking artists to make Abby's arms and figure bigger and we ended up with a female character that looked more like a cartoon character. No one liked her. Shes by far the most hated female character in the media.

Furiosa also doesnt do much hand to hand combat. Her car/truck/sniper is her tool so i never felt like she was beating up on more powerful dudes. She tries to overpower her lover and he stops her in seconds and throws her out of the truck.

Gal Gadot also went through months if not a full year of training for that role. Charlize Theron as well. The only difference is that they dont take steroids like the male actors.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I saw an interview with her and she trained for like 8 months to get ready for this role. I think they dont want female actors taking steroids like those roided out male superheroes because it will make them look like shit. Neil kept asking artists to make Abby's arms and figure bigger and we ended up with a female character that looked more like a cartoon character. No one liked her. Shes by far the most hated female character in the media.

Furiosa also doesnt do much hand to hand combat. Her car/truck/sniper is her tool so i never felt like she was beating up on more powerful dudes. She tries to overpower her lover and he stops her in seconds and throws her out of the truck.

Gal Gadot also went through months if not a full year of training for that role. Charlize Theron as well. The only difference is that they dont take steroids like the male actors.
I found this article about the filming that, while it doesn't address the training, DOES illustrate why female characters that act like men DO NOT WORK.


"“I am a really strong advocate of female rage,” Taylor-Joy added, noting she’s grown somewhat tired of female characters in movies often enduring hardships and only getting to shed a single tear. She told Miller that Furiosa deserved an eruption of emotion."

Surprised she isn't getting cancelled for essentially saying "women are more emotional" but it's true. Female characters, if they want to appear authentic and genuine, need different responses than men. The stoic male hero can't flip genders to be female just like a sappy romance can't take the female role and flip it to be a man without all the women tuning out.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I found this article about the filming that, while it doesn't address the training, DOES illustrate why female characters that act like men DO NOT WORK.


"“I am a really strong advocate of female rage,” Taylor-Joy added, noting she’s grown somewhat tired of female characters in movies often enduring hardships and only getting to shed a single tear. She told Miller that Furiosa deserved an eruption of emotion."

Surprised she isn't getting cancelled for essentially saying "women are more emotional" but it's true. Female characters, if they want to appear authentic and genuine, need different responses than men. The stoic male hero can't flip genders to be female just like a sappy romance can't take the female role and flip it to be a man without all the women tuning out.
Thats very frustrating to hear. I get that its George's movie but the stoic almost mute Tom Hardy was my biggest qualm with Fury Road. Im all for stoic action heroes but you cant just make a movie with a lead who has 30 lines of dialogue in the entire movie.

I actually loved the long almost drawn out final confrontation with Dementus because you rarely get that in movies nowadays. She shows great range there and keeps up with Chris Hemsworth hamming it up. The one scene with Praetorian Jack offering her terms was also very well acted even though he did most of the talking. I can understand not talking much during action scenes but this movie is much slower than Fury Road and had plenty of scenes where she couldve had something substantial to say and show her range.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Just watched this for the first time ever. Had no idea so many of these shots in the original were real. Especially the last shot of the big rig crashing.

I would like to see a similar video on the second movie which feels like it has a lot more CGi but I have a feeling i am probably wrong about that too.

 
I found this article about the filming that, while it doesn't address the training, DOES illustrate why female characters that act like men DO NOT WORK.
I only slightly disagree here because I don't like the idea lately that creative ideas must be neatly put into different boxes. "Women must act this way, men must act that way" is a very rigid approach towards creativity.

The reason why it's a slight disagree is because I can agree that quite a few writers aren't good at writing stoic female characters. George Miller prefers writing stoic protagonists, which is why I'm okay with his decision against ATJ's comment here:
“I am a really strong advocate of female rage,” Taylor-Joy added, noting she’s grown somewhat tired of female characters in movies often enduring hardships and only getting to shed a single tear. She told Miller that Furiosa deserved an eruption of emotion."
If that's how he saw his specific vision and he executed like he wanted to do so (which many here seem to advocate for) then that should be seen as okay. I can see Furiosa as a person in this world who lived this shitty life where she never truly filled her emptiness inside, thus she closed herself off.

My issue comes with those who don't really have a vision like George did, and just treat stoicism like an easy cheat code to writing a meaningful female protagonist.
 

Woggleman

Member
Furiosa is somebody who only had one true friend the entire movie and had to play the game in her environment in order to survive so I can see why she would be closed off. The one thing that I never got was actually in Fury Road which is the initial hostility between her and max. Living in the Citadel she would have known about the concept of blood bags and should have seen Max is almost as much a victim as the wives so why did they view each other as a threat.
 
Furiosa is somebody who only had one true friend the entire movie and had to play the game in her environment in order to survive so I can see why she would be closed off. The one thing that I never got was actually in Fury Road which is the initial hostility between her and max. Living in the Citadel she would have known about the concept of blood bags and should have seen Max is almost as much a victim as the wives so why did they view each other as a threat.


From her point of view, Max held someone who was deemed an innocent at gunpoint. This world is harsh, she doesn't know Max, and she doesn't know what he would have done.
 
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