Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Review 

I have to admit though, that one long set piece on the war rig with the flying dudes was exactly why I saw this movie and I freaking loved it

This movie is the definition of: "You will hear it has flaws and it will stop you from watching it but years later when you finally watch it you will think to yourself: 'Why were people even complaining? I wish I had just seen it when it was new!'"

It allowed me to live 2 hours in the Mad Max world! It was awesome and worth it. George Miller is a Master Mind!

Speaking as a Nolan fan, I feel like the CGI backlash has gotten a little bit out of hand. Yes, there is more noticeable CGI in this film compared to Fury Road but every shot clearly has George Miller's fingerprints all over it, he didn't turn it over to the VFX department and have them work on it by themselves, every bit of it was designed with his approval to bring his vision to life. It doesn't always look real, but it looks unique. And you can't say that about many blockbusters nowadays.

The fact that this movie was directed by an almost 80 year old man who also had Happy Feet and Babe in his filmography is insane. George Miller is a true artist and his versatility deserves so much appreciation

Does George Miller have it in him to make it epic at 79 years old? Yes. Yes, he does.

Dan! Did you see Tom Rothman's comments in Deadline about how to bring people back to the movies? It's all stuff you've been saying: Bring budgets down, bring run times back to where they used to be. Bring theatre prices back down to where they once were, and don't be slaves to IPs.

The best thing I can say about this movie is that while it is a wildly different film from Fury Road I really like that because at the same time it enhances Fury Road even more. Furiosa takes its time more, sets up characters and lore and so now when I go into Fury Road again I have a better understanding of the world and I’ll appreciate it more.🙏🏻

Mad Max Fury Road was a "capture lightning in a bottle" situation. It's a movie that revived the franchise after went on hiatus for 30 years so nobody was really anticipating the level of masterpiece that Fury Road achieved. So i can feel the pressure from Miller and his team in making this movie as they were living under a huge shadow for like 9 years in making this movie. And i kinda think Miller himself knew that this movie is never going to be as good as the first but he still wanted to give his best shot. And for the most part, despite some flaws, i still enjoyed the movie from start to finish, i appreciate the effort that the brought to this movie and if i have a free time, i'd absolutely see the movie again someday

As a person that loves… loves Fury Road, I can’t say that it was a massive success, it had a decent run but it didn’t smash the box office when it came out, if Furiosa gets around 380M then it’s gonna be on par with Its predecessor

Wasn't prepared for that 'Hot Fuzz' reference 🎬😂

Not gonna lie, I LOVED Furiosa… I thought it was like, -the perfect “companion piece” to Fury Road❤

“Oh, what a glorious day!”

It's rare to see a franchise being that has been alive for decades and it's so far being handled by one director. I honestly don't know how the franchise could go if George Miller someday passed away. I couldn't imagine a Mad Max movie without Miller and that shows how special Miller is as an artist when no one could really replicate his style and success with this franchise

It doesn’t happen often, but I AGREED w/ all the major points you made. My gf disagreed and said she feels like they lacked on the ‘realism’ to make it look more like the old Mad Max film. Over all, it feels like they had 3 different movies in mind, and what we saw was a smash-up of the 3. I gave it a 7/10, and I still recommend ppl to check it out.

I think this movie will grow on you over time. It’s not the immediate, unstoppable adrenaline rush of FR, which a lot of people are looking for. It’s its own thing, different tempo, different narrative style. No two Mad Max films are the same, and that’s the beauty of this series!

Chris Hemsworth was really great in Bad Times at the El Royal as a Charles Manson look a like villain.

I thought it was good but Fury Road is better. Hemsworth is fun, but I wish his conflict with Anya’s Furiosa was more prominent. He does some gnarly stuff to her near the end with no knowledge of who it is that he’s torturing. If he’d known, it would’ve made those scenes more intense.

Agreed with everything Dan said, The good and the bad. Chris Hemsworth stood out got me there's something absolutely captivating about his performance.

If people don’t go and watch this movie, this type of movie will go extinct. Studios will only greenlight comic book movies from now on

Fury Road's soundtrack was just so great that this one made it feel like Junkie XL just phoned it in...

I may be an outlier here but i haven't seen Fury Road😅. And i went to see this movie purely for Anya Taylor-Joy, whose career I've started following since 2017's Thoroughbreds. All i knew going into this movie was its a wasteland, since ive seen Thunderdome. And that at some point Furiosa loses an arm because its shown on the poster. Anyways, I thought the film was wildly entertaining, and with nothing else to compare it too, it managed to keep me captivated and enthralled (despite the long run time). Maybe i benefited from going in "blind", but hopefully this movie finds a leg of success with returning fans and casual viewers. And im definitely hyped up to finally get around to Fury Road to see what exactly spawned the want/need for Furiousa. 🔥

Chris Hemsworth being a villain in this movie is quire refreshing given his departure after doing Thor for such a long time. The underrated "Bad Times At The El Royale" proved how good he was as a villain and this movie just took his performance to a whole another level. I just love how he released his inner Australian here and turned it into maximum for this role 😂😂

Dude, your review is all over the place. I loved the movie, i already knew it was going to be tough to match Fury Road, but as a prequel , the pace was perfect. I do agree with the CGI point you brought up, still it didn’t take away from what I believe is a great film.

It's not Furiosa - it's Furio-sa

I really liked Furiosa, but I can understand why it wasn't a box office success. It's VERY random and intricate. There is a mixture of a protagonist infiltrated in a dangerous environment, a chase plot, a rivalry plot and a revenge plot.

I just saw the movie today and watched Fury Road again after. I completely agree with you that this film simply switched places too much and could have benefited from LINGERING in either action pieces, character moments, or locations a little more to give more definition to the movie. I’ve seen a lot of praise from reviewers, rightfully so, and I admire your thoughtful criticism.

I’m glad I found a review that lines up with my view of the film. There was definitely stuff missing in the middle of the story about how furiosa rose to be an imperator, how Immortan Joe felt when he found out furiosa was a woman, how he felt when escaped the harem so long ago, etc. The suspension of disbelief of him accepting a woman rising so quickly through the ranks despite how sexist his society is really bothered me, as I simply don’t believe he would have tolerated it.

YES! I've been waiting for this review! So excited to see this, Fury Road is my favorite movie of all time and I am so ready to submerse myself in that world again. Thanks for the review, Dan, I am glad I watched this before going in as I think it will help temper my expectations and enjoy the movie on its own!

Knowing that the first Dune and Mad Max Fury Road each won 6 Oscars (mostly in the technical categories and some people seemed to forgot that Fury Road took home 6 Oscars out of 10 nominations including a Best Picture nom) in their own award year, it'd be interesting to see how the award season goes next year for both of their follow ups, Dune Part 2 and Furiosa head to head in possibly achieving the same award success 🤔

Thank you for the review Dan. I do plan on seeing Furiosa but not this weekend. Over booked myself with work, errands and family stuff. Planning on seeing it next weekend. Looking forward to Charts on Tuesday.

Disappointed. I agree that with Dan that it lacks its own direction. And it makes the fatal error of “softening” the horrors of the Citadel as it was depicted in Fury Road. Almost like it needed to make Dementus the arch villain. I also agree making it more as a two hander outside of the Citadel would have helped (loved the opening sequence with Furiosa’s mom). Seeing so much of the War Boys and Imorten Joe’s crew felt too repetitive.

Personally, I preferred the mystique of the characters like Furiosa, among others, in Fury Road. I used to make up my own headcannon about her backstory. Like, why is this hot woman not one of Immortan Joe's wives? My thought was she was probably infertile, either from birth (nuclear wasteland and all, it makes sense) or from complications from giving birth to one of Joe's babies. Then she was cast aside like a dirty rag and she had to work her way up somehow to become his Imperator. To me, it makes more sense than her (spoiler) escaping without anyone noticing for many years and secretly cosplaying as a boy. Joe sicced his entire army to retrieve the wives in Fury Road and I'm supposed to belive he didn't even care enough that one of his future brides went missing to send a search party up and down the Citadel? Also, there's no way nobody suspected Furiosa was a girl. Anya looks and walks like a girl even though her hair is hidden. It killed the realism for me. I still like the actions and techniques Miller employed in the movie but story-wise, this movie was not needed.

This review just made me want to rewatch Fury Road

Great review. Your point about the movie checking boxes in the lore and not blazing its own trail hit home for me.

Furiosa is like Thunderdome to Fury Road's Road Warrior. It's a more complex and messier film but I think it will stand the test of time and I like it more than Thunderdome. Unlike Thunderdome, Furiosa didn't have the production problems and it's 100% George Miller.

Great video Dan!

I don’t know if it was on purpose, but the CGI had a choppy frame rate a lot of the time that gave it a similar feel to the original Mad Max. Even if it was obviously not a practical effect, it almost made me give it a pass based on that

It's so good, you can take a 30 minute nap in the middle and not miss anything.

I agree with you Dan. There were bits of Furiosa's growth that got glossed over that would have helped a lot. It would have done a lot for her character and origin story. Miller could have made this a two-parter, there's so much to cover and it felt too quick towards the end. It felt too split between Furiosa and giving back story to what already happened with Fury Road.

I believe why the movie is underperforming is that the first trailer that came out months ago.. the stunts and special effects looked like alot of the movie was green screened... this turned off alot of the audience.. thinking they are getting a mad max film that was mostly digital and not practical effects....which is not the case, when you watch the whole movie....

Enjoying the show, keep up the good work. Speaking of good work, don’t forget about that Picard season 3 review. I have watched your interview with Terry a few times.

Honestly THANK YOU DAN. I’ve seen constant reviews from Chris Stuckmann, RLM, or other reviewers praising the hell out of this movie and your criticisms are exactly how I felt. It is by no means a bad movie, but it’s so slow, overlong, and not well developed enough to get these 4/5 star ratings or even being 90% on RT.

Things that stood out for me were the strange 1.25x normal speed scenes, was this just to reduce the run time slightly? The relationship between Pretorian Jack and Furiosa "ended" with no fanfare, I know that Furiosa is quite stoic but really? The oddest thing was playing clips of Fury Road at the end - I just didn't get that at all!!

Couldn’t agree with you more on all the points you made. Great review!

Furiosa was so good. Honestly, the only problem I had with the movie was that she stopped shaving her head. Also, I feel like they didn't need to recast Furiosa. The Mad Max cameo actually suggests that this movie's ending is only a few months before Fury Road. Though the tree does make it at least a year before Fury Road. So the cameo was a little weird.

You are so lucky to have so many sponsorships man on 167K subs, you might think I am sarcastic but I am not, you are the kind of guy that has true influence.

This review makes me think of some of the impressions people had of The Two Jakes when comparing it to Chinatown. Many people never realized The Two Jakes even exists.

I quote Pirates, "Take what you can; Give nothing back" If George Miller, or Wes Ball or anyone else this summer gets a movie released in theaters that's largely their vision, I'll call that a win.

I dont understand why ppl are bitching about CGIs.. The cgis were seamlessly integrated into the film. This movie imo was the best movie in a long time, and may even top FR due. to its epic storytelling, the wide angle shots, the music.. it's an experience.. and do not compare this Dunes or others that insult the audience's intelligence.. The backstory, the why's all answer every character's beings.. I love this movie! Going back for a 2nd time

Off to watch this tonight :)

I’m extremely pumped to see this tonight, seeming as every review I’ve watched has ranged from “it’s good, not great” to “it’s another masterpiece!”. That’s a pretty damn good range to be in, even if it seems to fall short of Fury Road for most.

Having watched this movie now, I agree with your review. When Furiosa is given a choice at the end of the first act, I understand why she made the choice she did from an emotional standpoint, but making the opposite choice would've been the better choice from an intellectual and story standpoint. After that scene, I still mostly enjoyed the movie, especially the third act, but I couldn't stop thinking about the movie we could've gotten.

Great analysis, you really pinpointed the film's strengths and weaknesses

I should've attached this to my other comment😅. Always love hearing your reviews, and reports. 💜

More like 'Worldbuilding Around Furiosa: A Mad Max Silmarillion' Very excited for your review, Dan

I appreciate your clear and honest review. I understand where you're coming from with your criticisms. I personally really enjoyed it.

I haven't seen any of the Mad Max films, but wanted to check this one out. The movie itself, I enjoyed. The theater experience was awful. Bad enough that I probably won't go see any movie this summer other than Deadpool, and even that, I'm trying to figure out if it's better to go opening weekend when the crowd will be excited and hopefully a decent audience, or waiting until like a Wednesday matinee when there may be less people.

Would wonder if they'd consider a future cut that corrected the fx

Did you have a chance to see HOPE AND GLORY - A Mad Max Fan Film? 275 filmmakers from 5 continents gave their all with real stunts, a real orchestra and most importantly, real heart.

This movie is dark and intense as helll… not perfect, but is more dynamic and interesting than most films you will see

He missed such a trick the way that first villain thumbnail pops up and he doesn’t lead in with ‘…and eventually…she uh finds Jesus?!’ 😆

I’m going this weekend.

I think you explained it well: it was too episodic, too many parts disconnected from each other. Great film, but I enjoyed Fury Road much more

This film had impossible expectations to luve up to with how incredible Fury Road was, and while I still enjoyed Furiosa with tempered expectations I couldnt help but be a little disapointed. All your criticisms are very valid: the pacing is rough due to the structure, the CGI is noticible at some times, and I wish there was more action. Furiosa's lack of dialogue also bothered me since it felt out of character for her conpared to Theron's performance. That being said, its still a strong film with some great action (when it happens), visuals, and strong performances from Anya Taylor Joy, Alyia Browne that carry the torch from Theron's powerhouse portrayal, as well as Chris Hemsworth. Also, the ending is really strong even despite its lack of action.

Saw it yesterday and really liked it. Thank you Mr. Miller!

Can't wait to see this one

thanks dan

Saw it tonight and I actually really loved the broader storytelling aspect. I can see Dan’s point, but some of the things that detracted from his enjoyment actually added to mine

Thanks for the review! Saw Furiosa last night and was so disappointed. It felt like a backstory outline and not a fully cooked script or story. Visually if the stunts were real I couldn’t tell, bc the cgi and artificially sped up scenes in post made everything look so fake. Mad Max, The Road Warrior, and Fury Road remain Masterpieces for me, but I don’t think I’ll rewatch Furiosa for a long time. I think Dementus became more interesting in scenes around the plush bear. I would have been interested to see his full backstory from family man to wasteland leader play out along Furiosa’s eventually overlapping to see how the wasteland could turn one evil vs the other into a hero.

I also felt that the film slogged around with its narrative, even though Anya and Chris were giving great performances. A lot of the beats didn't land.

I'm coming back to the movie theater this week for a second ride. I know I won't get tired of it.

Hey Dan! I’m going to watch both movies with my parents this weekend. Since you’ve seen both, I was wondering which movie we should see first? I have seen Fury Road but they haven’t and I’m leaning towards showing them Furiosa first. What do you think?

I think you were too harsh. For me this is a see it now and a standout candidate for best movie of the year. Fury road is a 10/10 this is an 8.5/10 still fantastic

Movie was good BUT some of the dialogue with Chris Hemsworth character couldn't make out at times. Plus he reminded me of a drunk Jack Sparrow, just wasn't digging him as "the villain"

Got my ticket for tomorrow.

Test will be in a couple years (when expectations level out) and watching them back to back and see if Fury Road feels like a sequel... rather than always labeling this as a prequel

This review hits it exactly what i thought after seeing it.

I was actually good with the slower pacing and structure. My biggest issue is like you said when it tries to be Fury Road aka big rig chase scene it can't compare. And that scene had some noticeable greenscreen so it feels much weaker in comparison. Still found the last 20 min absolutely thrilling.

When did we “see gas-town and bullet-farm” in Fury Road? You said we already say those locations in Fury Road, send the time stamp please…because we did not see those places. We saw gas-town on the horizon but that was it.

I don’t know what cut of Fury Road you saw that included seeing Gas Town and the Bullet Farm already, cause they weren’t in the cut I’ve been watching since 2015. They were mentioned, but never actually ventured to.

WHAT A LOVELY DAAAAY!!!

I haven’t seen fury road. And since I haven’t, is it recommended to watch furiosa first? Or fury road first?

I have Hemsworth/Anya fatigue

This was so much better than 'On the border between It's Fine and it's good" to me, but maybe that's because I haven't seen Fury Road since 2015. Time for a rewatch.

I think when people were calling for/speculating on a Furiosa spin-off movie, they were assuming it would be with Theron as her portrayal was what wowed everyone. It's interesting they decided on this story instead.

I think as an audience we are so used to stories being told out of sequences (to keep our attention.. ) This could be why the movie feel like it’s coming up short. I think if the chapters were in a mixed up order or taking advantage of using flashbacks, it could have built up more mystery. It is hard for any prequel to meet expectations. I think after a few views we might appreciate it for its own movie.

I feel like this movie had a lot less music in it and maybe that's because junkie XL wasn't in it or something? It's not necessarily bad but it did stand out to me that like my God this movie is so without music

I just watched the B&W version of Fury Road and WOW!!! It gave me a whole new appreciation for what was already a masterpiece. It's disappointing to hear Furiosa is lacking, though it's understandable considering how long it took Fury Road to finally get made (more time for Miller and co. to work on pre-production, work out glitches, and fine tune every aspect).

🎶We don't need another PreeeQuelll🎶 👽 🖖 🤖 ...i'm waiting for "The Adventures of Young Humongous" starring Tom Holland??

I think you nailed it. I agree, the film was best when it was doing more its own thing. The war rig scene seemed unnecessary and not as good as Fury Road. And now I realize that might be because of the different cinematographer. Interesting. I also agree that it was missing some focus.

we don't always agree on our movie reviews, but this one we certainly have nearly complete overlap-- could not agree more with your issues (and also the things done well)

I agree. Although I really enjoyed this film, with the poor audio at my local movie theater, I had a hard time hearing and understanding all of the dialogue which is crucial when trying to understand events in the movie. I found myself enjoying the actions scenes without fully knowing what was going on, which is good enough for some, but not good enough for a broad audience.

I liked the film, not as good as fury road but worth your time. I think if 20 minutes were cut and some of the dialogue written is a bit eye rolling bad, and editing and pacing I wish had been applied better. I think it would have been better. The kid part needed to be edited and get to Anya’s part.

Man, Dan and I are totally aligned on this one. The only disagreement we have is that I think Hemsworth has shown tremendous range as Thor over the years, and a lot of that energy is what makes Dementus so great (even more so because the character deliberately plays on Thor, though more the mythological one). I wish I liked this movie more, but it hurts my love of Fury Road and makes so many prequel missteps.

Nothing beats a good two-hander!

I saw this yesterday (May 23) and I don't know why but something didn't click for me. I loved Fury Road, to be clear, so I actually had high hopes for this, but something felt off. I think it falls into the "Rogue One" trap of telling a story that's best left to the imagination. Not that bad, as R1 has logic leaps I still don't understand. Here I think I'm just underwhelmed. I will admit though that the last shot of Chris Hemsworth's character gave me shivers in a good way.

Dan, based on your review, do you think a second viewing would tip the scale further so that you’re solidly in the “It’s Fine” or “It’s Good” category? Thx.

now they gotta start trying more Mad Max Sagas. The Wasteland War The founding of Gastown and the Bulletfarm. Where did Dementus get HIS leg brace? Is the body mechanic an actual surgeon from before the end or is he just making it up as he goes? Lets Star Wars the heck outta this franchise. #sarcasm

2 hours 28 minutes? Ugh! I was considering seeing it in theaters, but that’s a long time to devote to a movie. It would have to be a great movie for me to sit for nearly 3 hours, and it doesn’t sound like this one is. That’s disappointing.