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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Film Review

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme

Director: George Miller

Synopsis: Years before the events of Fury Road, a young Furiosa is taken from her home and family by the warlord Dementus…

Review: It was nothing short of a spectacular triumph when the Mad Max franchise finally came revving back onto our screens after a 30-year absence (including a significant period being stuck in the deepest depths of development hell). Even with all the frustration that would have surely brewed following its severely troubled production, Mad Max: Fury Road blew our collective socks off when it was finally unleashed. Aside from the mind-blowingly impressive, practical effects-driven action sequences and flamethrowing guitars, it also introduced us to a character who would outshine Max himself. Namely, Imperator Furiosa, played immaculately by Charlize Theron. With the character having such an impact, it is not remotely surprising that in those long years spent trying to get Fury Road up and running, the visionary behind this franchise George Miller came up with a story centred on this one-armed badass warrior. As the trailer so succinctly summarised: this is her odyssey.

Approximately 15 to 20 years before she encounters the Road Warrior, a young Furiosa (Browne) lives with her family in the Green Place of Many Mothers. In this bountiful utopia, all the inhabitants are skilled warriors and resources are plentiful. However, after Furiosa is kidnapped by the minions of the Warlord Dementus and his dangerous gang of bikers, she is taken prisoner by Dementus. With Furiosa in tow, he travels to the Citadel to challenge the tyrannical rule of Immortan Joe, leading to Furiosa spending many years in servitude to both men. Yet through all these years, she retains that ferocious spirit and is determined to fulfil her promise to her mother to find her way back home.

For all the praise richly and justifiably heaped upon Fury Road as a masterclass in crafting heavy metal, balls-to-the-wall action spectacle. It cannot be argued that it was a little bit light on plot and could be summarised as one big, long car chase set over the course of a few days. Therefore, Miller and returning screenwriter Nico Lathouris have crafted a different beast, but one that serves as the perfect companion piece. Split into episodic chapters charting Furiosa’s journey and how she learns to adapt in the harshest of environments where lawlessness is rampant. She must also learn to survive while in the servitude of these despots looking to either gain or maintain their grip on power in the remnants of a society where lawlessness is rampant, with only a few places left that have not fallen into ruin.

Such was the charisma and sheer force of nature in the performance that Charlize Theron gave in initially bringing this character to the screen, Anya Taylor-Joy had some enormous shoes to fill stepping into this role and doing her justice. Yet it’s a challenge she rises to phenomenally, though admittedly not for the first third of the film as it falls to young Alyla Browne to portray the Imperator in her childhood. As she grows up in this brutal environment, Browne imbues the character with steely hardiness and resilience into her adult years.

As an adult, Furiosa does not have a substantial amount of dialogue. Still, sometimes actions speak louder than words, and Taylor-Joy fits the part of Furiosa like a prosthetic arm. Though in the same vein as how Furiosa outshone Mad Max in his own film, Chris Hemsworth as Dementus threatens to drive away with the film, atop his insanely cool motorcycle chariot. Sporting scraggly hair and beard and decaying teeth, a far cry away from the princely and regal aura of the God of Thunder, imagine a cross between the Joker and a pirate, and you have the craziness that is Dementus. Hemsworth is delightfully batshit bonkers in this role and he owns every minute of screen time he has. Meanwhile, taking over the role from the late Hugh Keays-Byrne, Lachy Hulme is equally menacing as Immortan Joe.

With a lot more emphasis on character, Miller takes his foot off the pedal when it comes to the action sequences and it is not full-throttle from practically the opening credits. Such was the intensity of those adrenaline-fuelled action scenes of Fury Road that have set the standard for filmmakers when it comes to action scenes, surely Miller couldn’t surpass himself again? Like his fellow master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Miller is proving age is just a number because he is not allowing himself to slow down. One scene in particular, involving the iconic War Rig, is truly mind-blowing, worth the price of a ticket alone, and demands to be witnessed on the biggest screen possible.

For all the action mastery that Miller has in his arsenal, by splitting the story into episodic chapters, the pacing stalls from time to time resulting in the two-and-a-half-hour run time dragging in a couple of places. However, it remains crystal clear Miller is in his element developing and enriching this mad sandbox of a world he first brought to life back in 1979. 45 years later, he’s absolutely still going strong. Should he continue to sit in the driving seat of this franchise, audiences will likely be more than eager to start those engines and come along for the ride.

Considerably more character-driven but with plenty of mind-blowing action and a scene-stealing turn from Chris Hemsworth. Under the vision of the mad magnificent genius of George Miller, audiences shall bear witness to 2024 being the year of desert power!

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Film Review

Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Travis Jeffery, Lydia Peckham, Neil Sandilands, Eka Darville,

Director: Wes Ball

Synopsis: Many generations after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, a young ape goes on a journey of discovery after his clan comes under attack…

Review: When the Planet of the Apes franchise came roaring back to life after a near decade of absence in 2011, it was the foundation on which arguably the best trilogy of the 2010s was built. Centred on Caesar, a genetically advanced ape who in his lifetime, rose up and led the apes in a revolution, saw his authority challenged by a rogue ape, and later led the apes into a war against the humans before he succumbed to his injuries. Portrayed by the master of motion capture by Andy Serkis, this rebooted trilogy set an exceedingly high bar for any future films. It is a bar that this new instalment swings for but ultimately falls short of matching those lofty standards.

Set hundreds of years after Caesar’s passing, apes have become the planet’s most dominant species, with humans regressing into a more primitive and feral-like state. The apes are divided into clans, with one clan developing a strong bond with eagles, including young ape Noa (Teague) who’s being prepped by his father for an important ceremony and must complete a significant ritual beforehand. However, after his clan comes under attack from a military-minded clan, Noa must go on a journey to find any survivors and establish the motivations of this combative clan. Along the way, he encounters a human (Allen), who is being hunted by the clan as they believe she is smarter than all the other humans and has crucial knowledge to access something of great significance to the clan.

Such was the enormous cultural impact of Caesar during the previous films, a list of the best characters of the 2010s would be incomplete without his inclusion. Caesar’s shadow looms large over this new generation of apes, even several hundred years after his passing. With the passage of such a long time, Josh Friedman’s screenplay takes its time to introduce the new Eagle clan and their peaceful existence, which stands in unique contrast to the more warmongering apes. The latter have taken Caesar’s teachings and misinterpreted them as a means to perpetrate violence against both other ape clans and humans. By contrast, the likes of orangutang Raka (Macon), who is fighting hard to preserve Caesar’s teachings and their true meanings. This puts Noa in a tricky position as to what he should do with this human, and whether he should trust her, or leave her to the warmongering apes.

Teague brings a likeable presence to Noa and imbues him with a sense of honour and a determination to do what is right and to honour his family and his tribe. Unfortunately, though no one else at least in his tribe is as memorable or given nearly as much development as Noa. However, as far as the other ape characters go, Macon as Raka brings no shortage of wisdom and imparts valuable knowledge to Noa as he proceeds on his journey to rescue his family, who have fallen into the servitude of the militaristic tribe and its leader Proximus Caesar (played with a blend of charisma and arrogance by Kevin Durand). His name would suggest he is a descendant of Caesar, and while he certainly echoes Caesar’s prominent “Apes. Together. Strong” mantra, Proximus is a far cry from the legendary leader he idolises. He possesses a messiah complex and is driven by the belief that not only what he is doing is right, but precisely what Caesar would have wanted the apes to do, making the audience wish the great Caesar’s ghost would reincarnate and give him a sharp and thorough rebuking.

Having done the visual effects work for the previous instalments, the craftwork on display from the geniuses at Weta is once again nothing short of extraordinary with such photorealistic visuals, it completely makes you forget that these are human actors in some rather unusual-looking suits bringing these apes to life. Unfortunately, outside of the apes, the only human character who is given a substantial amount of development is Freya Allan’s mysterious character, whom Noa and Raka name Nova (in a callback to the character of the same name from War for the Planet of the Apes). There’s an element of mystery to her, but as the film progresses and we learn more about her, certain decisions she makes are extremely perplexing and ultimately leave the audience with more questions than answers as to her motivations. The script could have fleshed these out more.

At 145 minutes, Kingdom is also the longest movie in the series to date. While this runtime is sometimes necessary to establish this world generations after the events of the previous film, it can also be to its detriment, particularly in the latter half. With this being reported as the first journey in a brand new trilogy, it has laid solid but imperfect foundations for future films to build upon. Time will tell if this new group of apes prove to be as strong or as memorable as Caesar’s remarkable journey from genetically modified ape to messianic primate.

Retaining the visual splendour of its previous instalments, Kingdom goes for some big swings with weighty themes about legacy and differing interpretations of teachings but doesn’t quite hit the heights of Caesar’s trilogy.