While I don’t have much love for the first Mad Max movie from 1979, I am a big fan of the resultant series.  The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) are both genuinely great movies, and I like Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) perhaps more than I should (it has great music!).  That’s why this new adventure is such a disappointment to me.  It has the same wonderful elements and tone of the others, but very little of their impact or wonder.

George Miller’s story follows a little girl named Furiosa who grows up in a place of abundance, is kidnapped by marauders, forced to watch the killing of her mother, spends years in captivity (although she is not abused) and who, as a grown woman (Anya Taylor=Joy) escapes and fights her way to freedom in the Wasteland.  Eventually she gets to the very beginning of Fury Road, where Charlize Theron takes over the role.

Miller’s outlandish view of the future remains pretty constant; the difference is that in Furiosa most of the mythic, wacky, grotesque, larger-than-life fiends who populate the Wasteland are made rather ordinary.  We witness them living in their caves and building their incredible machinery and bickering among themselves, and seeing them as almost regular people renders them less mythic, grotesque, and interesting.  This movie shows too much and removes much of the mystery surrounding Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and his post-apocalyptic toadies; the premise is far more effective when they remain mythic, bizarre, and, above all, mysterious.

The merits of the cinematography and stunt work and set design are exemplary.  But liabilities persist.  In a wasteland with extremely limited resources, where do all the toadies and lackeys and henchmen come from?  Dozens, perhaps hundreds, are killed throughout the movie in various mayhem, yet there is no shortage.  Where does the food to feed all these maniacs come from?  And where are all the women?

Playing the young version of Charlize Theron, Anya Taylor-Joy is fine.  She looks the part, she plays it well.  Chris Hemsworth is less impressive because his character is a dolt.  The most impressive acting in the film belongs to Charlee Fraser, as Furiosa’s furious mom, who eventually sacrifices herself to save her daughter.  It’s a great performance in a movie that should be much better than it is.  ☆ ☆ 1/2 stars.  7 June 2024.