Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

If you want madness, then look no further. If you want high octane chases, look no further. If you want apocalyptic action, look no further.

This prequel to the highly successful Fury Road sees us explore the madness of the Wasteland as well as delving into Furiosa's past. Its full of high speed action packed chases as well as bringing incredible set pieces into the film, if you love cars and vehicles and high speed chases then this is definitely for you.

Visionary director George Miller created a gem with Fury Road, bringing in action inspired by the Fast and Furious films and combining them with an apocalyptic world to create a unique environment for our protagonists to venture in. In this film, he brings it all back in the same fashion, except this time choosing to focus more on worldbuilding than showing action sequences constantly throughout the runtime.

Its aims are to show the madness that has been created in this world and how it differs than most post apocalyptic worlds we have seen. Let's not forget Furiosa, of course, this film is about her journey and how she survived the Wasteland and became an Imperator for Immorten Joe and eventually a Rebel. Her journey is what made everything work in this film, we see the Wasteland in front of her eyes and we learn what has become of humanity through her eyes.

Furiosa was the star of Fury Road, she was portrayed as a classic rebel turned hero of the day and commanded most of the driving of the War Rig in a spectacular fashion. She was a post apocalyptic version of Vin Diesel. In this film, she comes across as even stronger than we saw her, she is a survivor trying to survive in a tyrannical world and is driven on vengeance rather than redemption.

Anya Taylor Joy commands the film with such prowess and independence from the character and breaths life into Furiosa that brings a light to the tyranny of the Wasteland. Casting her as Furiosa was a great move and she fits into the role perfectly and tells the story of Furiosa the way we want to hear it, and she absolutely brings the fury with her when she is driving!

Another great casting choice is Chris Hemsworth as the ruthless warlord Dementus. Usually we see Hemsworth as a hero in films (thanks to his Marvel career) but this time he shines again as a villain who seeks to rule over the Wasteland and he comes into the role magnificently. He brings out the madness that has taken over Dementus and shows how ruthless and power hungry he can be in his endeavours.

The film portrays his fall from grace through the runtime as his ambitions get the better of him, so we see his desperation to cling to whatever power he had because, in his mind, that's what he needs to do to survive. He knows the Wasteland and he knows how brutal it can be so he unleashes that brutality on his victims in an effort to try and balance the scales.

The main focus of the film was about the Wasteland, what it is and what its about. We know how it came to be, but in this film we see how it affects our characters and how barren and ruthless it can be. All the characters suffer from the Wasteland and drives them mad and that's what makes both films great, its all about madness.

From the styles of the cars to the incredible performances of the actors, madness is key when creating a true Mad Max story. It shows what our characters have to do to survive and how ruthless and merciless they must be in this world. It creates an exciting atmosphere for the audience to invest in because madness, as you know, is chaotic and we all love a bit of chaos.

It lays the groundwork for an incredible action packed story as you don't know what's coming round the corner or what's going to happen next and when it does, boy is it worth it. I love it when I see a bit of chaos in a film because its exciting and thrilling and I just love it and this film embraces chaos.

The main spectacle of the film was, of course, the vehicles. You can't get more of the apocalypse than getting apocalyptic war vehicles designed for nothing but speed and chaos. Every one of the vehicles shown in the film has its own unique design and features that makes it shine in every frame, and considering the runtime and this is a Mad Max film, the production department must have spent many nights contemplating designs while having a few at the local bar.

All the production designs on the vehicles lead to some truly epic chases and action sequences throughout the film, where we see fire raging and V8s roar in the Wasteland. The production on the chases was incredible, having to spend days in the desert filming and filming takes with different stunt performers and actors just to make a 15 minute action sequence.

Its incredible how much effort went into making the set pieces unique and thrilling, its like we are seeing the Wasteland as a powerhouse racetrack. It recreates the magic that made Fury Road such a success and brings us back to high octane chases that makes Fast and Furious look like Mario Kart.

Seeing Furiosa's story come to life was always going to be epic, a young woman battling for survival in a hostile world, ruled by gangs and warlords all grasping for power. It gives us order amidst all the chaos happening on screen by allowing us to see the world through her eyes and make sense of everything that is happening.

The Furiosa we saw in Fury Road was compassionate and seeking redemption we see the character develop to this through her relationship with Dementus and how he taught her the brutality of the Wasteland and what it takes to survive. In a way, Dementus created the Furiosa we saw in Fury Road, except she is way, way better than him and his satanic ways.

It was also very fascinating seeing how each of the warlords and their gangs ruled the Wasteland and how they worked with each other rather than against each other so they can all have the necessary resources to survive. Even amidst all the chaos, there is still some semblance of humanity in the Wasteland, which is what the film explores.

We learn more about the Wasteland and, in some ways, we gain a mutual respect for it because, at the end of the day, Nature is the most powerful force and the nature of the Wasteland is what drove everyone mad. As I said before, this is a film about the Wasteland rather than a film about Furiosa, in fact I would even say that Fury Road is about Furiosa rather than Max because she was the star of that film and she shone again in this one, but the Wasteland shone even more.

Ever since I watched Fury Road, I wanted another Mad Max film because I couldn't get enough of the chases and the cars and I was not disappointed with this instalment. It has everything you could want from this genre and more which is perfect because at no point was I bored or checking the time or having a number 2 because I loved seeing everything about this film before my eyes.

I was gasping at the chases and speechless at the brutal scenes and was smiling when hearing the engines sing their majestic chorus. Miller really created something incredible with Mad Max and he carries on with this film. The best thing is he is working on another instalment so I hope he keeps us entertained with all the chases and characters and settings that make this film and Fury Road iconic.

Overall, this film is great. Solid 9 out of 10. If you have a Saturday free or you are bored on your day off, put this film on and you will not be disappointed. I wish there were more films like this so I can come back to the cinema again and again and never be bored of watching the Apocalypse.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is now available on digital and DVD