Furiosa debuted to a whimper at the box office rather than the thunderclap that might’ve been expected. A franchise built on bonkers action has ultimately disappointed financially. Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t make a lot of money, and it looks like the epic prequel will go down that same sandy path. But as so many movie nerds will attest, that hardly means anything for the quality.
There have been tons of great movies that did not do well at the box office. Killers of the Flower Moon, Annihilation, Doctor Sleep, Blade Runner 2049, Fight Club, and so many others come to mind. Whether or not the movie makes a ton often has more to do with the audience than the quality of the film itself. Is that true of Furiosa?
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is an Epic In the Grandest Sense
An epic is defined as a word “used to describe events that happen over a long period and involve a lot of action and difficulty.” That might as well be the synopsis of the Mad Max prequel. Spanning roughly two decades (give or take, since the Mad Max timeline is already pretty convoluted), Furiosa begins with a young and wide-eyed titular character who is neither young nor wide-eyed by the time the credits roll.
The other definition of epic is “extremely good”, and that’s very applicable here, too. The film takes what made Fury Road so good and adds to it while expanding the lore of the world these characters inhabit. There’s extreme vehicular warfare, but there’s also a lot of character development. The hardened version of the Imperator that steals the show in Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t start out that way.
The movie strikes an impressive balance between the car chases and explosions that have become this franchise’s staple and a more character-driven tale. This movie is not just about cars driving through a desolate landscape with characters crawling around fighting each other (rest assured that is still very prevalent, though). It’s also a revenge tale with complex characters worthy of our attention.
Chris Hemsworth Steals the Show
While Anya Taylor-Joy does a phenomenal job as Furiosa in every sense, she isn’t the scene-stealer. Audiences, particularly those who’ve seen The Menu or Last Night in Soho are familiar with Taylor-Joy’s skills. Audiences have not really been exposed to Chris Hemsworth’s game. That’s not to say his prominent roles haven’t been good (namely his turn as Thor in Avengers: Infinity War), but this is a career-best outing from him.
For Marvel actors to shed the character that made them the most famous, it takes a massive effort on a critically acclaimed film most of the time. Hemsworth proves he’s up to the task here. His Dementus is braggadocious, evil, conniving, and demands to be seen and heard. Most other characters, even Furiosa, don’t have a lot to say. Hemsworth makes up for it and does so in an impressive fashion.
For most of the movie, he’s a cartoonishly evil antagonist bent on ruling the wasteland. He does a great job, but there’s a switch at the end that makes his character even more evil but with a whole lot more depth. The final scene between Dementus and Furiosa is among the best in the entire film and it is devoid of action. That says a lot in an action movie.
Known primarily as the hero, Hemsworth clearly revels in being bad. His ending monologue will stick with audiences long after they’ve left the theater. It’s been a particularly good year for supporting actors (looking at Javier Bardem in Dune: Part Two and Josh O’Connor in Challengers), but don’t be surprised if Hemsworth ends up nominated for an Oscar. It won’t be a shock if the movie itself bags a lot of nominations, too.
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