Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

⭐9/10

The prequel to what is now one of my favorite movies. This is the origin story of Furiosa, and while I don't think she really needed an origin story, and while I don't think this world necessarily needs to be filled in, I do think this is just another opportunity to shoot a bunch of stunts and explosions in the Australian outback, and for that you will always have my attention. 

This movie is awesome. It is maybe a little less end-to-end pure-adenaline, but there is still plenty of action. And in lieu of that action, you get some nice story moments. Again, I loved in the first that there are no story moments, and you just get bits along the way, but I will admit that I was caught up in this world and wanted to know more. I loved the idea of the 3 cities that trade the only 3 commodies needed: food/water, bullets, and guzzoline. Of course this doesn't make any sense, and when this movie starts making sense is when I turn it off. 

But there are nice moments, including real human relationships, and some tragic moments, all spliced in between great action sequences. The action seemed maybe a touch tamer, and there was no guitar guy this time, but still this is the coolest, gnarliest, crunchiest action we have. The creativity is on full display and it's pure joy to watch. Loud, bombastic maximalism like no other. I particularly loved the music during these scenes, a droning drum beat while people fall to horrific deaths one by one. 

A few other highlights were the maggot farm, one of the most bleak, uncomfortable scene I've ever seen, as well as the ending. Chris Hemsworth is in this movie as the villain across from Anya Taylor-Joy, and they are both fantastic and share a pretty great scene at the end. Kinda a simple thing, but it separates this from similar movies. Good writing, good delivery, just a bit of a deft touch in an otherwise full-throttle movie. 

Good stuff. Just short of the first one, but a worthy prequel.