‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ review: another mighty, petrol-soaked masterpiece

It’s rare for a fifth instalment of any film franchise to be eagerly anticipated but for the prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, the excitement has been feverish. How does director George Miller follow arguably the greatest action movie of the last decade? With Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga playing Cannes Film Festival it turns out you drop Max from everything but the title and concentrate on how Fury Road’s stand-out became the fiercest female in blockbuster cinema.

So, another origin story hits the big screen but it’s a live one. Where Charlize Theron burned through the screen as the one-armed driver who matched Max in ferocity and road skills last time out, Anya Taylor-Joy gets behind the wheel now. But that’s only after a thrilling first act in which 10-year-old Furiosa (Alyla Browne, the lead in forthcoming mutant spider romp Sting) is snatched from her family in a lush oasis paradise by the biker minions of warlord Dementus. Chris Hemsworth tackles Dementus having finished playing Thor in the MCU and takes to it with aplomb – he’s even more villainous than he was as a murderous cult leader in underrated thriller Bad Times At The El Royale. Furiosa’s super-sniper mother gives chase across the post-apocalyptic wasteland but her pursuit comes to nothing. After seeing her mother tortured and murdered, young Furiosa is eventually bartered by Dementus in a deal with masked citadel leader Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme taking over from the late Hugh Keays-Byrne).

In a middle section somehow even more explosively impressive than the opening, Furiosa travels with truck-driving Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke from quality dramas such as The Souvenir and The Wonder) between the citadel where water exists and food can grow, Gas Town – the wasteland fuel depot that Dementus has taken by force – and the Bullet Farm, an arms dump. The three locations are inter-dependent and accessible only to the most hardened road warrior driving hell-for-leather across the highway between them. Much like the difficulties faced by Max and Furiosa in Fury Road, there are scores of robbers trying to stop Jack and his cargo. Eventually, a Dementus double-cross and ensuing war engulfs the wasteland, just as Jack and Furiosa’s bond is strengthening.

Miller, co-creator of the franchise, has collaborated with Fury Road co-writer Nico Lathouris and, crucially, re-teamed with his technical crew who won five Oscars last time out: production designer Colin Gibson, editor Margaret Sixel, sound mixer Ben Osmo, costume designer Jenny Beavan and hair and makeup whizz Lesley Vanderwalt. The result is another extraordinary blockbuster juggernaut that in some sequences somehow excels even its predecessor, arresting viewers with its booming, utterly immersive world of grease, dust, motorbikes and carnage.

Some may argue that Taylor-Joy’s lack of dialogue – she has just 30 spoken lines – matters but acting is not just talking. Taylor-Joy’s expressive face and, crucially, eyes, do much of the heavy lifting here. Burke, an unexpected delight as tough guy Jack, is the biggest surprise, while an underplayed conclusion after such tremendous noise and fire gives the whole piece an added, thoughtful dimension. Brilliant and unmissable.

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