Watched in the cinema (86th visit in 2024)

When George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road" celebrated its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015, expectations were subdued in advance. Immediately afterwards, viewers and critics were unanimous and "Fury Road" became the surprise hit of the year overnight. The triumphal march of Miller's version of a dystopian, resource-poor future continued right up to the Oscars, where the film won six Oscars, a sensation for an action film. Accordingly, expectations were high this time when "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" celebrated its premiere once again in Cannes 2024.

The question of whether George Miller can surpass his predecessor "Fury Road" takes a back seat for the time being. Even though "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" is a prequel, the film can theoretically stand on its own. However, the script's great strength lies in providing more context about the world of the Australian Wasteland and filling in gaps or answering questions left unanswered by "Mad Max: Fury Road". Unlike 'Fury Road', the plot of 'Furiosa' doesn't just span a few days, but for the first time uses time jumps to tell a story over the course of more than a decade. This allows Miller to focus much more on explaining his world to the viewer in more detail and deepening the overarching story.

Accordingly, in "Furiosa" he places a little more emphasis on telling the backstory surrounding her character and uses a few fewer action scenes than in its predecessor. Nevertheless, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" is above all an action-packed spectacle for the eyes. Miller's film is a masterpiece of staging throughout. The costume design, music, effects, camera work, set design and action choreography are second to none and keep the viewer glued to the screen. The sometimes very long action sequences are hardly noticeable at first, as you are constantly busy discovering and following new, clever ways of staging them.

Despite everything, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" is too long at the end with a running time of two and a half hours. Even the best action scene will eventually wear you out and the movie takes a little too long to find a conclusion in the last of its five chapters. In terms of acting, almost the entire cast shines. Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in particular delivers across the board, even though she only has 40 dialogs during the entire film. Chris Hemsworth, who plays the antagonist Dr. Dementus, unfortunately can't keep up here. Dementus runs his biker gang like a sect and as the leader, he constantly moves between prophet and completely insane. In the more exaggerated moments, Hemsworth works perfectly, but he doesn't manage to credibly embody the kind of authority that is needed to become a leader in this world.