The ‘Mad Max’ franchise began all the way back in 1979, created and directed by George Miller in his directorial debut of a feature film and starring a young, Mel Gibson, fresh out of drama school and still with an Australian accent, as the titular character. It became one of Australia’s greatest films of all time, the first of many great films directed by Miller and shot Gibson into Hollywood stardom.

The film received two sequels and a somewhat reboot in 2015 that Miller described as a “revisiting”, with Tom Hardy taking over the role of Max Rockatansky in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, which became a huge hit and distinguished itself from the Mel Gibson films. The 2015 version introduced Imperator, Furiosa, portrayed by Charlize Theron, who became an instant fan favourite and nine years later, receives her own prequel film, ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ now showing in cinemas worldwide and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth and more, with George Miller once again returning to the director’s chair.

As the world falls, a young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of the ruthless Biker Horde led by the warlord, Dementus, who also brutally murders her mother. Sweeping through the wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by Immortan Joe. While the two tyrants’ war for dominance rages on, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to get her revenge and find her way home.

Charlize Theron originally portrayed Furiosa in the 2015 film and made her a pop culture icon. The prequel film puts Anya Taylor-Joy in the shoes of a younger Furiosa, while Australian star Alyla Browne plays the character during her childhood. Both actresses do an amazing job of portraying Furiosa as someone who’s been through so much, but always pushes through no matter what. Even as a child, she’s a danger to everyone around her, even the big burly men who can physically overpower her.

Furiosa doesn’t actually speak that much throughout the film, just some lines of dialogue here and there, but her stoic facial expressions add so much to the overall story. It’s interesting to see how Furiosa became the battle-hardened warrior we know her as today, she goes through absolute hell and back, but doesn’t let any of that stop her, even if it costs her an arm. Both Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne are just bad asses as Imperator Furiosa.

Someone who does have a lot to say in the film is Chris Hemsworth as Dementus, the warlord leader of the Biker Horde that abducted Furiosa. Hemsworth is best known for playing heroic characters with the most notable being Thor in the MCU films, so seeing him as the main villain is a big change from what we’re used to, but an opportunity he definitely made the most of and showed us a different side of him. He is ruthless, brutal, egotistical and above all, maniacal with a sick sense of humour.

He has the most personality out of the entire cast, has a hint of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films, but takes great joy in making people suffer both physically and psychologically while feeding his own insatiable ego. Chris Hemsworth puts on a memorable performance that stands out from his most iconic role as the ‘God of Thunder’ but is also balanced really well so that he doesn’t overshadow the other important characters.

Various characters and their actors return from Mad Max: Fury Road including Nathan Jones as Rictus Erectus, Josh Helm as Scabrous Scrotus, Angus Sampson as the Organic Mechanic and John Howard (not the former prime minister) as the People Eater. Immortan Joe also returns, this time played by Lachy Hulme as a younger version, but looks almost identical to Hugh Keays-Byrne’s portrayal in Fury Road, who sadly passed away in 2020.

He has the same imposing and intimidating presence, and even though he and his crew have a little less screen time compared to the previous film, they all still leave a lasting impression and it’s interesting to see what the Citadel was like years before the events of Fury Road.

Tom Burke also stars in the film as Praetorian Jack, who aids Furiosa on her journey. Burke is best known for portraying lousy characters, so his role in a Mad Max film was the opportunity he needed to show a different side to his acting range and not be typecasted. After seeing his performance in this film, the opportunity is one he certainly didn’t take for granted. The character of Praetorian Jack is also someone who has seen and been through a lot, creating mutual respect between him and Furiosa. This role was actually meant to be for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who unfortunately had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts, but now we can’t see anyone other than Tom Burke as

Praetorian Jack. Without giving too much away, his outfit and mannerisms kind of echo a certain character from the original Mad Max films that longtime fans will be intrigued by.

This prequel film puts a little more focus on the story than the action, which Furiosa fans will surely appreciate to learn more about their favourite character, but there is still plenty of glorious action with various modified vehicles, innovative weapons and plenty of violence. Guns mounted on cars, flails spinning behind a truck, War Boys with explosive-tipped spears, explosions galore and more, there is still more than enough action to satisfy fans of the Mad Max franchise and isn’t just a rinse and repeat of the previous film.

The way all the action is done isn’t just to create exciting scenes, but it all helps with telling the story. There will be some exciting new vehicle designs not seen in Fury Road, but the biggest highlight amongst them would have to be Dementus ’chariot which is pulled along by three motorbikes instead of horses, which adds so much to the character’s personality.

Being set in the deserts of Australia, the real-life locations provide some breathtaking scenery and as always, are the perfect set pieces for a Mad Max film with all the vehicular mayhem unfolding onscreen. The interiors of the villains ’hideouts/home bases are very unsettling with body parts and rotting flesh lying around, pieces of plastic dolls attached to rusty tools and all the starving people living in fear and deprived of food and water.

The soundtrack has mostly deep orchestral tunes that perfectly complement the action scenes, but there is something big missing. What made Mad Max: Fury Road really stand out was the rock band performing while travelling with Immortan Joe, his sons, the War Boys and all the crew, as the Doof Warrior shredded his guitar while shooting flames out of it, the war drums and giant loudspeakers are all unfortunately absent from this film. It does make sense that they haven’t been formed yet with this being a prequel film, but it still leaves a big void and something that fans might’ve been looking forward to, to hear the epic heavy metal music amongst all the chaos. Even without the Doof Warrior and the band, it doesn’t take anything away from the action scenes.

Mad Max is a legendary franchise that has stood the test of time. Since ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’ in 1985, it wasn’t until thirty years later that we got to see a new film in the franchise and it became a huge hit in its own way. It made sense to make a solo film about Furiosa, but it also had some big shoes to fill being a prequel film and needing younger actresses to take on the role. It’s safe to say that Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne do absolute justice to the character and add to the legacy of Imperator Furiosa. Even after 45 years since the original Mel Gibson film, director George Miller certainly still has it, and we hope he can continue making great films for years to come. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is one hell of a ride not to be missed.

Written by: Sammy Hanson