Return To Post-Apocalyptic Mayhem With Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
George Miller takes us back to the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, following the 2015 action/adventure movie Mad Max: Fury Road, with the latest instalment, which serves as a prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Furiosa was first introduced to us in 2015 and was portrayed by Charlize Theron. Now, it is the turn of Anna Taylor-Joy to take over the mantle of the desert warrior. Since this is a prequel, it was Miller’s choice to cast someone in her 20s in the role, which, to be honest, seems like a fair and smart move. A better option than going down the de-ageing route, which never goes down well.
In a 2020 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Charlize responded to the re-casting news by stating:
“It’s a tough one to swallow. Listen, I fully respect George, if not more so in the aftermath of making Fury Road with him. He’s a master, and I wish him nothing but the best. Yeah, it’s a little heartbreaking, for sure.”
Sounds a little like sour grapes to me, but you can make your own mind up by reading the article for yourselves.
According to the official Warner Brothers website, the synopsis reads as ‘As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.’
Joining Taylor-Joy in this much-anticipated prequel is Chris Hemsworth (pretty sure I don’t need to tell you who he is) who plays the main antagonist Warlord Dementus. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited to see Hemsworth play against type. I’m confident that he will be quite to foreboding presence. Speaking on Hemsworth’s casting, Mad Max: Fury Road producer and first assistant director, P. J. Voeten said:
“ George saw Chris [Hemsworth] initially as a courtesy and then fell in love with the idea. He’s going to play totally against type, the lead baddie. Unfortunately, we’ve got to find all of our other characters that aren’t around anymore: a new Immortan, a new Bullet Farmer, and a few others.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is written by George Miller and Nick Lathouris, who co-wrote Fury Road and is produced by Miller and Doug Mitchell. Personally, I was never a fan of the Mads Max franchise, growing up, and I still can’t seem to find any interest them. That being said, I think that Fury Road is truly a great film from start to finish. I really enjoyed the special Black and Chrome release (if you haven’t watched it, I can definitely recommend it).
Anyway, take a look at the trailer below.
I think that we can pretty much take from that, that fans of the series are 100% going to get exactly what they want: all the action, adventure and madness that we’d expect from this franchise. I just can’t see this one disappointing those viewers who are returning to the franchise, and those who are just coming into it. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga serves as a standalone movie, but should it be successful, I’m sure this will not be the last we see of this unique world.
Furiosa also stars Tom Burke, Nathan Jones and Angus Sampson. it will be released worldwide in theatres only on 24 May, 2024 and internationally beginning on 22 May, 2024.
What are your thoughts on the latest Mad Max outing?