Furiosa (May 24, 2024)

[davejames]

FWIW here's my reaction from the movie review thread:

Just saw this and... thought it was alright. There are some cool action sequences, Hemsworth makes for a fun villain, and Anya a good Furiosa. And I appreciated that it's a very different movie from Fury Road... but it also drags in quite a few places and feels like a lot of backstory we didn't really need to see.

Yeah we see all the struggles and pain Furiosa went through growing up, and how exactly she loses her arm and becomes Immortan Joe's trusted lieutenant... but it's nothing that makes her a more compelling character than she already was. And a lot of that pain and resentment was already communicated through Charlize's eyes anyway.

And sad to say there is quite a bit of obvious CGI in this and a lot of digital doubles that make this feel a lot less gritty and thrilling to watch than Fury Road. And the glimpses of FR we get during the end credits just makes the difference even more obvious, and made me wish I had been watching that amazing, iconic movie in the theater again instead.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Still, is it better than Thunderdome...?

 

[jye4ever]

Jye -- trying to take Miller's glory away. Calling him "old" and "2nd unit did the work".

Come on, man. Do you want more Lady Ghostbusters in your life?

Well Miller did say in his book that P.J. Voeten his 1st assistant director who is running 2nd unit is his right hand man.

PJ was the cop with the sunglasses and the black mask in Mad Max 2 doing all of those crazy stunts plus he was Mel’s stunt man as well.

He said P.J. is just as responsible for the action set pieces as he is.

But this is why Tarantino sounds like an idiot when he says he wants to retire at 61 look at George Miller!

 

[jye4ever]

Still, is it better than Thunderdome...?

Oh god yes lol

 

[BoosterGold06]

I saw this last night and thought it was pretty good. It felt a little long, but I still enjoyed it. It wasn’t as good as The Road Warrior or Fury Road.

 

[jye4ever]

See I rather George de-escalate the action set pieces than be forced to use cgi because he felt the need to top the previous movie with bigger and more bombastic vehicle carnage especially with those goofy mini lawnmower copters.

Just chill yo.

Go ahead an escalate the destroyed cities with cgi all you want if you decide to show Sydney or NYC post nuke detonations BUT scale down the action so that you are not forced to go into super fake territory.

I get the pressure of being bigger and more bad ass but not at the expense of going so crazy now you need cgi midgets lol

Plus why hire a handsome guy like Hemsworth to be a villain you are instantly out of the gate declawing your villain ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Wor-Gar]

It wasn’t as good as The Road Warrior or Fury Road.

Always put "Road" in the movie, George.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I rather George de-escalate the action

Just chill yo.

scale down the action

Yes, this! More intimate scenes. Maybe a romance. Some humor. A lot of talking heads. A story that resonates with current 'peoples'. Keep it quiet. Something my wife my like. Yes... that's the Max world I want too, Jye.



































Traitor.

 

[jye4ever]

Memorial Weekend just doesn’t scream post apocalyptic bleak feelings.

Furiosa should’ve been released in September or October.

 

[davejames]

I honestly think it would have opened about the same no matter what weekend they chose. The interest just wasn't there.

 

[Mandible]

Memorial Weekend just doesn’t scream post apocalyptic bleak feelings.

Furiosa should’ve been released in September or October.

With the monstrous amount they spent on P&A, including splashing Anya and Chris onto every conceivable device possible, it wouldn't have made a difference. As Dave said, interest just isn't there.

Their original weekend projections were 75-80
Then it dropped to 45-50
And they ended up with 25 - one of the biggest kicks in the face in a long time.

Roughly 2.3M people went to see this, yet roughly 8.3M went to see ROTJ in 83.

The young ones didn't give too hoots about it either, as has been seen time and time again with old IP's.

As Lucas just said at Cannes - people want original ideas.

 

[Prime Clone]

I honestly think it would have opened about the same no matter what weekend they chose. The interest just wasn't there.

I keep forgetting the appeal of the MM universe is limited to Aussie males and members of this forum (or both).

 

[JacktheRipper]

I'm not a big FR fan, but it's a movie I enjoy and like to rewatch every now and then. I was curious about this Furiosa movie until I saw the trailer. The CGI is a big factor why I'll wait to see this. It just really removes any sense of realism and danger for me. It's also a primary reason the SW PT movies don't resonate with me. Call the OT whatever you want; it felt real. There is a grittiness that people doing CGI for these movie just can not convey.

 

[jye4ever]

Mad Max is done.

Zero chance of recovery from this disaster.

 

[Prime Clone]

Mad Max is done.

Zero chance of recovery from this disaster.

(But I'm still looking forward to The Wasteland.)

 

[Prime Clone]

Mad Max is done.

So is my eyesight, if the CGI didn't bother me.

 

[jye4ever]

Pick your new Wez!

 

[Prime Clone]

Hmmmm, more convincing than Furiosa's CGI eh.

 

[davejames]

I'm not a big FR fan, but it's a movie I enjoy and like to rewatch every now and then. I was curious about this Furiosa movie until I saw the trailer. The CGI is a big factor why I'll wait to see this. It just really removes any sense of realism and danger for me. It's also a primary reason the SW PT movies don't resonate with me. Call the OT whatever you want; it felt real. There is a grittiness that people doing CGI for these movie just can not convey.

To be fair it's not CGI fakery all the way through, and it's clear they had real vehicles racing through a real desert for much of this. But the CG does stand out whenever it shows up unfortunately, especially when it comes to something like digital doubles falling off the War Rig, or when they pull that trick of someone leaping onto the back of a running horse (which still looks just as bad as when Legolas did it ages ago, so I really wish movies would stop with that already).

 

[davejames]

The other weird thing is that this really feels like a different Furiosa to me. Anya plays it much more angry and ferocious and intense, while Charlize was more calm and measured and internal. I know there's a time jump at the very end and she's likely matured since then, but the new movie leads directly into Fury Road so I think it would still make for a jarring experience watching them back to back.

Which is one more reason I probably won't be watching this one again or making it part of my yearly rewatch like FR.