The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max.

The latest movie in the ‘Mad Max’ series is a prequel to 2015’s surprising smash hit ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, focusing on the backstory to the character of Furiosa who was introduced in that particular movie. ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’, to give it its full title, provides the backstory to one of the most memorable characters from ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, an enigmatic woman who became an accomplice of sorts to Max. In that movie she was played by Charlize Theron, in this by Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne at different stages of her life. This isn’t a movie quite as relentlessly intense as ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (what could be?!), but it is a movie that adds further depth and richness to the wasteland environment of this world, and I really liked it.

‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ is segmented into chapters following Furiosa from her childhood to her adulthood, as she is torn away from her family and thrust into a hostile environment where she finds herself at the mercy of powerful, evil men such as Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Dementus is the key figure throughout Furiosa’s life as depicted in this movie, and it is he that drives her quest for vengeance, which underpins the core narrative. Anya Taylor-Joy is a mesmeric screen presence, as is Alyla Browne, who plays the younger Furiosa – the transition from child to adult is so seamless that I didn’t quite pick up on it right away. As for Hemsworth, he is clearly having a ball and he makes for a memorable villain and a good foil for the excellent Taylor-Joy.

I particularly liked how this movie expanded on the world of ‘Mad Max’, with the settlements visited (The Citadel, Gastown, Bullet Farm) all memorable, mechanical landscapes filled by these otherworldly vagrants that now populate this post-apocalyptic landscape. It is undoubtedly too long and there are spells where it isn’t quite as gripping, but ‘Furiosa’ is a very good prequel and fully justifies another visit to this mad world that George Miller has created.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: George Miller

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Lachu Hulme, George Shevtsov, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, Dylan Adonis and Elsa Pataky

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt12037194/