Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Chris Hemswoth, who plays Dementus in this movie, observed that America has Star Wars, the UK Harry Potter, and Australia has Mad Max. Australia has the only fairy tale that can come true.


And the beautiful thing about the  Mad Max universe is it is as vast as the Wasteland, but still full of characters. It's not a franchise or iP, it is a post-apocalyptic mythology. The dregs and bottom scrappings of humanity, still have a sense of humor and gruesome dignity.  I suppose it all goes back to George Miller's emergency room days as a doctor, gallows humor, what's to do about it, mate?

Is Furiosa action packed? Yes. Hell, yes. As action packed as Fury Road? Nah, but, Furiosa is an explanation movie and I'm OK with that. How did Furiosa get to be the Furiosa of Fury Road, and where do things go from here?

At the end of Fury Road, Max goes off to wander the Wasteland. Furiosa and the Mothers now hold the Citadel*, Gas Town and the Bullet Farm**.

Miller has given us Woman the Builder in all but the first movie, in which the badass wife and kid got murdered, which drove Max mad. Ignore the fact that Max is like 72 years old in Fury Road, the characters are ageless archetypes now, ghosts drifting through stories of the Wasteland.

What's next? George wants to make a Mad Max V and I'm like absolutely, box office receipts be damned.

2 comments:

  1. * the Citadel does not exist. No corresponding rock formation can be found in Australia because it is CGI.

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  2. ** Gas Town and the Bullet Farm could exist in the outback. There are vast amount of minerals, and petroleum reserves almost smack dap in the middle of the continent.

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