Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)    Warner Bros./Action-Adventure    RT: 148 minutes    Rated R (sequences of strong violence and grisly images)    Director: George Miller    Screenplay: George Miller and Nico Lathouris    Music: Tom Holkenborg    Cinematography: Simon Duggan    Release date: May 24, 2024 (US)    Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, George Shevtsov, Lachy Hulme, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, Elsa Pataky, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, David Field, Rachel Romahn, David Collins, Goran Kleut, CJ Bloomfield, Matuse, Ian Roberts, Guy Spense, Robert Jones.

Rating: ** ½

 I’m in the minority of moviegoers who think Mad Max: Fury Road is highly overrated. To me, it was more exhausting than entertaining. It didn’t help that I unwisely chose to see it in 3D. I felt absolutely drained as I staggered out of the theater.

 The critical and commercial success of Fury Road, along with the six Oscars it took home, made a follow-up film a certainty. It took nine years, but the next chapter in the saga has finally roared into theaters. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel to Fury Road. It centers on Imperator Furiosa, the heroine played by Charlize Theron in the 2015 film. Here, she’s played by Alyla Browne (Sting) as a child and Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) as a young adult. It’s an origin flick. We find out how she became the bad ass who took the wheel from Max Rockatansky and put him in the passenger seat.

 Divided into chapters, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga traces its heroine’s evolution from scared child to fierce road warrior. It all starts when she’s taken from her home (aka “The Green Place of Many Mothers”) by members of a vicious biker gang led by Dementus (Hemsworth, Thor). He basically wants to rule the post-apocalyptic world by taking control over every precious resource- i.e. water, gasoline and ammunition. His plan is to ignite a war between tribes. All the while, Furiosa bides her time, waiting for the right time to avenge her mother who was killed by Dementus right in front of her.

 That, in a nutshell, is the plot of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. If it doesn’t sound like much, that’s only because it isn’t. It’s really nothing more than a thread tying together the many action set-pieces. As you know, that’s really the point of the latest Mad Max movies and while they are pretty good, one can’t help but be put off by the massive overuse of CGI. It takes a lot away from the experience. I remember being awed by the climactic car chase in The Road Warrior. It still blows me away with all the practical stunt work. In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, it’s all done with computers and green screen. The action is still fun to watch, but it’s hardly awesome.

 I didn’t dislike Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, but I didn’t love it either. I might like it slightly more than Fury Road, but only because it didn’t leave me feeling like the victim of ASA (Aggravated Sensory Assault). It’s chaotic. It has no real plot of which to speak. It runs about 30 minutes too long. At the same time, George Miller (he directed ALL the Mad Max movies) knows how to put together a decent action flick which is what Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga basically is or would be if not for the mammoth budget ($168M). WTH?! All that money and it doesn’t look nearly as cool as the OG Mad Max (made for about $400K) and the sequel ($4.5M). Miller knew how to keep it tight then as well with respective running times of 93 and 96 minutes.

 It goes without saying that Max is largely unseen in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga save for a brief glimpse of his character watching the events unfold from a distance. In his place, we get a bloke named Praetorian Jack (Burke, BBC’s The Musketeers) who’s kind of like Max. He dresses like him, talks like him and drives like him. He is Furiosa’s mentor after she escapes from her keepers (at this point, Immortan Joe and his gang). He’s fine, but he’s no Mel Gibson. Joy is pretty good as Furiosa and so is Browne for that matter. She’s believable as a pissed off girl who has to fight her way through life. Hemsworth hams it up mightily as Dementus, a Shakespeare-esque bad guy who’s equal parts vicious and tragic.

 I’m writing this review a few days after the fact which means I’m fully aware of its disappointing box office take. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga grossed about $32M over the four-day holiday weekend which falls well below the $40-45M insiders predicted. I had a feeling this would be the case. When I ordered my ticket for the Saturday matinee showing the previous Monday, the theater was empty. It was still less than half full come showtime. With this, I think we’ve seen the last of Max, Furiosa and the rest of the gang. For now, anyway.