George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is here.
The latest in the franchise that began with 1979’s “Mad Max,” continuing with 1981’s “The Road Warrior” and 1984’s “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” and culminated in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” — arguably one of the most impressive (and most kick-ass) action movies ever made — has finally arrived. And this time, in going forwards, we must also go back.
“Furiosa” is a prequel that takes place over the course of 15 years and follows young Furiosa (now played by Anya Taylor-Joy) as she traverses the wasteland, dealing with madmen (like Chris Hemsworth’s unhinged Dementus) and her relationship with the sinister powers-that-be, which ultimately led to her daring escape in “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Sure, it’s a prequel, which means that you shouldn’t have to have watched “Mad Max: Fury Road,” but there are obvious callbacks to that movie (and nods to the larger “Mad Max” mythos) that will make it a much more enjoyable, or at the very least a less confusing, experience. Here’s everything you need to remember from “Mad Max: Fury Road” ahead of your initial viewing of “Furiosa.”
Furiosa Comes From The Green Place
In “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron) rescues a bunch of women from the Citadel, the stronghold of Immortan Joe and the war boys. Her desire is to return to her home, the Green Place of Many Mothers (The women that live there are called the Vulvalini and this is 100% real and not something that I just made up). That’s where her own mother Mary Jo Bassa (Charlee Fraser, “Anyone But You”) is from and also where Furiosa was kidnapped. In returning to the Green Place in “Fury Road,” she finds it has become yet another stretch of desolate wasteland.
But in the opening of “Furiosa,” not only do we see the Green Place, but we also see what happens when members of the Biker Horde, led by Dementus, infiltrate the place and kidnap a young Furiosa. It’s the first sequence in the movie and is thrilling, with Furiosa’s mom picking off the bikers one by one and also attempting to rescue her child. Not just because she loves Furiosa, but also because the location of the Green Place cannot be exposed to these cannibalistic savages.
Max Doesn’t Want to Get Involved
Miller has already revealed that Mad Max makes an appearance in “Furiosa,” this time played by Jacob Tomuri, who was Tom Hardy’s stunt double during “Fury Road.” But if you’re thinking there will be some heroic moment for Max, well, think again.
Since the very first “Mad Max,” he is a guy who doesn’t want to be involved. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t involved; fate and violence and the dangerous laws of the universe always seem to pull him in. And he’s not a pacifist either; he would just prefer to be left alone. When you see him pop up in “Furiosa,” just remember this: He’s a man, adrift in the wasteland. Don’t bother to call. Don’t bother to write.
Immortan Joe’s Whole Deal
As you can imagine, Hemsworth’s Dementus soon runs afoul of another deeply terrible person, Immortan Joe (now played by Lachy Hulme), a warlord who has built his Citadel over an aquifer as a way of controlling his needy subjects.
A few things to remember about old Joe: he commands an army of war boys, suicidal warriors who dress in white paint and who carry explosive-tipped spears. Unlike kamikaze pilots, there’s no code they’re following, no ethics they abide by. They are simply violent scumbags who want to rule the world. And while there isn’t a single war boy who gets an arc like Nicholas Hoult’s character in “Fury Road,” there is a character called Piss Boy whose entire station in life is to dump piss into the mighty war rig engine when it overheats. That’s it.
In terms of new characters, there is a character called Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), who is the military leader for the Citadel and driver of the war rig. But he does at least have something of a moral code, even when facing off against Dementus.
Immortan Joe also has a couple of dim bulb sons, Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones) and Scrotus (Josh Helman), who aid him at the Citadel. He also controls two key outposts: the Bullet Farm (which is alluded to in “Mad Max: Fury Road”) and the Gastown (where the gas and oil to power the war rig come from). All three locations are visited here.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is in theaters now.
