Furiosa (May 24, 2024)

[Mandible]

How to unpack this one????

Story - by far the best structured narrative in the whole series. Classic revenge movie; beginning, middle, end. Generally the MM stories are bits and pieces barely strung together. Not much plot, or character development (not saying that in a bad way - it's just what they are... pretty basic).

Characters - if they didn't have the relationship with Pseudo Max and Furiosa (and the way it was handled), I probably wouldn't have liked it as much as I did. We haven't seen a "relationship" like this since the original film with Max and his wife. Obviously that had more weight as they had a lot of history (and a child), but I liked how they did Pseudo and Furiosa a bit more naive and childlike - like they were going to sail off into the sunset together and live happily ever after in perfect land.

Scale was epic. As in, the various different types of locations, etc. It felt a lot like the MM video game in that sense.

BUT...

The CG is out of control. It's so obvious, it's on the nose. And unnecessary a lot of the time - the bit where Hemsworth is ramming the big gate to get through clearly was CG to do this dumb close shot of his face as he would reverse up and go again and again. Same shot, same angle, same **** CG. I've seen shots handled better and more realistic in The Volume.

The movement of all the vehicles is horrendous when they're CG - it looks like a cutscene from a video game.

I tried to look past the CG, but it is just so overused, obvious, and poorly executed - I struggled.

Saying all that, I want to watch it again. Probably give it a 7.5 or 8.

 

[jye4ever]

Lets see if Wor-Gar approves…

 

[Khev]

Just got to chapter 2 and stopping to eat (I wasn't going to watch it until later but quickly turned it on to check out the 4K and Atmos sound and got so invested in it I kept going).

Where is it available to watch at home?

 

[Wor-Gar]

I approve!

As with all things, where this movie lands completely depends how much you truly relish the Wasteland World. You also have to look at what you have as comparisons. Road Warrior is like the Raiders of MM -- there's just no comparison. Of the sequels, you have Thunderdome... so I would think FR and Furiosa both faired better for your viewing pleasure.

But your mileage may vary in the Wasteland...

 

[ZaCHw117]

Same. Prior to the 2020 shutdown, I made the drive fairly regularly as I loved watching movies in IMAX. I haven't been to one since I think 2019, but I'd like to start going again.

I think the last film I traveled for IMAX was the las Harry Potter film. So a long time ago.

Even the IMAX i’m talking about isn’t a “legit” one, it’s a LIEMAX.

 

[Mandible]

Where is it available to watch at home?

It was in my inbox

 

[Mandible]

I approve!

As with all things, where this movie lands completely depends how much you truly relish the Wasteland World. You also have to look at what you have as comparisons. Road Warrior is like the Raiders of MM -- there's just no comparison. Of the sequels, you have Thunderdome... so I would think FR and Furiosa both faired better for your viewing pleasure.

But your mileage may vary in the Wasteland...

Having sat with it a bit longer, I can't help but think of the game because the CG is sooooooooooooooo pronounced in the film. (BTW, if you would love to see an expanded living Wasteland, the game is a must, really well realized).

But I do want to watch it again to see if I can watch it without expectation and enjoy it any better - and also, too see if there is actually a single frame that hasn't been manipulated; because the more I think about it, the more I think there was only a few shots here and there that were CG free

I compared the look at first to 300, but the big difference with 300 (like it or not), is that even shot is so beautiful it could be a framed photo on a wall. Not the same with this. Just video game level CG.

 

[Mandible]

Just started to watch it again and realized that the whole movie wouldn't have happened if Furiosa didn't actively go down to the crew who were cutting up the horse.

Clearly not the sharpest tool in the box.

Leave quietly, go get your tribe, come back, and kill them all. Job done. Movie over. Or at worst, use you whistle from up on the peak where the tree was. and by the time your tribe got there, the biker crew would have still been trying to scale the wall.

Now I can't unsee it...

 

[Wor-Gar]

So many movies start with that "one mistake" though. If so-and-so just didn't do such-and-such...

If Luke hadn't taken off R2's restraining bolt...

If that dumb nude girl hadn't gone swimming at night...

If Dr. Kimble hadn't loaned his car to a friend...

If SkyNet hadn't sent the Terminator back in time, Reese would not have impregnated Sarah with John...

And nearly every horror movie has someone opening a door or a box or something they know they shouldn't...

 

[Khev]

Just started to watch it again and realized that the whole movie wouldn't have happened if Furiosa didn't actively go down to the crew who were cutting up the horse.

Clearly not the sharpest tool in the box.

She literally saved the Green Place from being discovering by Dementus' entire force by doing that.

 

[jye4ever]

She literally saved the Green Place from being discovering by Dementus' entire force by doing that.

Mandible be like…

 

[ZE_501]

[...] wouldn't have happened if Furiosa didn't actively go down to the crew who were [...]

I just got back from work, very tired. I read that line very differently. I need to sleep and probably get my mind outta the gutter.

 

[Mandible]

She literally saved the Green Place from being discovering by Dementus' entire force by doing that.

But if she had have just used her whistle thing without climbing down the rock it and putting herself in direct danger, it would have been the same result without potentially getting caught - or if she did get caught, she wouldn't have been caught as quickly - or she could have made the biker crew chase her directly into her tribe; they've wouldn't have known they'd be running into a direct trap.

Dunno, it just felt odd the second time, as she's only a kid and as her mom got there in no time the tribe was obviously close by.

 

[histrionics]

I just saw Furiosa two days ago - late to the party, I know - and thought it was fantastic! It's true that Furiosa has the most structured narrative of all the Mad Max films, which I'd describe as having the most reach, depth and currency to true storytelling. A full story arc rather than a mere vignette tale from the Max world. That protracted life-story was Miller’s intention this time around. It wasn't just about moving the gas, or saving some tribe of people, it was about creating a place with situation/circumstance and a purpose with generational reach. It was the most comprehensive and deep world-building within a narrative structure. Well, that’s the definition of an origin story and this was the origin of Furiosa; something we haven’t quite seen since the first Mad Max.

I've always loved the clear and efficient linear simplicity of Road Warrior, but it's not something that can be done multiple times without getting boring or derivative. A franchise can only have one, or maybe two, of those simple films in its history. There’s a time and opportunity to expand the narrative to further folktales, not just situations, and Furiosa did that rather well. It may not be a Max film like we know and would hope for, but it set out do something particular in the Max world and I felt like it succeeded rather well. I know I was riveted and engrossed in this story and genuinely wanted to know where it was going. I wouldn’t say Furiosa was particularly original - we’ve seen this kind of vengeance story dozens of times - but it occupied its place in that narrative structure and followed through very well. That’s usually how I critique a film; not according to what I want to see, but how the filmmaker(s) intended to make the film and if they followed through without compromising. If I can appreciate the filmmakers’ intentions and see that they delivered on their idea, then I’m generally respectful of the resultant film.

Furiosa was truly massive compared to previous Max films and I think that scope was necessary to push its central themes, because this film was about politics, feudalism, warfare, revenge (yeah, some revenge, because vengeance is always a theme in genre films) and the sheer brutality of the lawless post-apoc mutant future world. This may have been the most violent and brutal of all the Max films. Beyond all of that Furiosa was about folklore and storytelling and there were times when I thought it was implied that certain things may or may not have happened. Furiosa’s legendary life could be a mix of reality and hyperbole that was passed down through generations and passed across the landscape. We’ll never know the true story, but if Furiosa was a saviour and hero fable her story was carefully held within trusted circles or oral tradition. The vagueness and inaccuracy of Furiosa’s narrative was actually quite explicit during the third-person voiceovers and in the final scene where we see how Furiosa “may-or-may-not” have dealt with Dementus.

As a final note on the CGI and general effects, yes, it was a disappointment, but I mostly overlooked it. I think it may have been because I read these threads and I knew it was coming or simply because it has become a normal thing to see a load of CGI and other post-production trickery in today’s genre films, so my mind fails to process it anymore. I no longer look at the details and can’t distinguish between practical to CGI edits (i.e. in Dune 2 there were scenes that I thought were CGI that turned out to be practical effects). I really can’t offer filmmakers my precious suspension of disbelief any longer. Just put the CGI white noise up there so I can let it wash over and be done with it. Unfortunately, things like CGI are a liability for the Max franchise which was always about capturing wildly unimaginable practical effects in-camera. Sadly, I think we’ll never have that back again, and it just isn’t the 70s/80s anymore.

 

[histrionics]

Just started to watch it again and realized that the whole movie wouldn't have happened if Furiosa didn't actively go down to the crew who were cutting up the horse.

I noticed that right from the beginning, as I was watching the movie. I spent the following many minutes trying to wrestle that problem out of my thoughts so I could pay attention to where the story was going. It may have been at the point when Dementus was negotiating with Immortan Joe that Furiosa's childhood mistake became a non-issue to the plot and I didn't have to think about it any longer.

 

[Khev]

But if she had have just used her whistle thing without climbing down the rock it and putting herself in direct danger, it would have been the same result

We don't know that.

What we do know is that her actions led to none of the men surviving to tell Dementus where the Green Place was.

 

[Khev]

Whoa, same guy in both Mad Max and Furiosa.

 

[Wor-Gar]

That guy in Furiosa should have had a pegleg.

 

[BeefEaster]

Just watched this on streaming. Great movie overall. I didn't find the CGI nearly as distracting as I did in the trailers. After about 20 minutes I just chalked it up to this being basically a retelling of campfire story, so everything gets embellished, even the visuals.

 

[jye4ever]

ATJ is catching some heat for dissing Timothée Chalamet recently on a red carpet and word is she was disgusted by his kiss and support of Armie Hammer who she hates.