2024, George Miller (The Witches of Eastwick) -- download
I am not. Also, WTF dude, download?
I am already on my second viewing of this one, as I have to admit, I started nodding off after Hour One (pt 3). It was all my own fault: a long day of work, a carb take-away, and an overly full tiki drink. So, second viewing already only days later and I am enjoying it.... even more? There are so many, many, and while I won't use the title of the video essays ("Every Frame a Painting"), scenes that stand as beautiful pieces of work on their own.
So, so many scenes a painting? Quit rolling your eyes.
But what kept on going through my head during the watching, and is retained during this one is that this reminds me so much more of Babe: Pig in the City than any other of Miller's works. Its almost fairy tale like in its depiction, as he danced the thin line between recreating the visual cues and imageries that made Fury Road so distinct, and doing something ... new.
Of note, I made this mistake of listening to a less that favourable review podcast (Maximum Film!) and it has left me thinking. Was what they said warranted? Is it diminishing what I felt about the movie, especially now that I have finished second watching? errr... watching 1.5 ?
I liked the movie, maybe even a tempered love. And I also know that deep down in my heart, I will love it more with repeated viewings. The thing I can say is that it did not want to be Fury Road and in that it succeeded. Where the previous movie was fraught with silences, this one was overwhelmed by the constant monologuing of Dementus. If this is but one of the Mad Max movies of the "new era" then it may be less than lauded, as Beyond Thunderdome was, but it still stands up as such a spectacle.
So, prequel. The story of how Furiosa came to be.
She's a wee thing (Alyla Browne, Sting) in the Place of Abundance: food, water, horses, even electricity -- you can see solar panels on the roof of buildings in the background. Her horse is taken down by raiders from the Wasteland and before she can finish disabling their bikes, she is taken. But not before she can alert her home, her mother.
Don't forget to mention that the other girl with Furiosa is Valkyrie, who ends up being one of the Mothers. Is she the final inspiration for Furiosa to betray Immortan Joe?
The first chase, as these movies are naught but chases scenes strung together by plot and need. Two women, one is Furiosa's mother. She traces them back to the camp of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth, Snow White and the Huntsman). This is where we slide back easily into the world building Miller has given us as the raiders yell at each other, "My lips. Dementus's ear. My lips. Dementus!" They may have found a Place of Abundance, but what's more important is carrying this information to their leader, being the first to mention it, to rise in the ranks.
Gawds, Dementus, what's with the Jesus look?
The second chase. Mary Jobassa (or Joe Bassa? Jabassa? Furiosa's mom; Charlee Fraser, Anyone But You) succeeds in rescuing Furiosa but not without injury and loss of the fuel they need to get back to the Greenlands. They are caught, and rather than run to safety as instructed, Furiosa comes back, only to be confronted by the death of her mother, and the first instructional of life in the Wasteland, by Dementus.
Second Act. Months later? A year? Little D is Dementus's pet, along side The History Man (George Shevtsov, Mystery Road: Origin) wearing his and tattooed with (mostly useless?) facts from the old world. By chance Dementus's horde comes across a warboy (one must wonder why this is the first time; the world of Mad Max doesn't actually seem all that big) who leads them to The Citadel ("the whata-del?"), home of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme, Offspring) and his genetic reject sons, to semi-quote Dementus. This is the first hint of how inflated the ego of Dementus is, as his horde is decimated and unsuccessfully threatening Joe and crew.
Instead, Dementus, who is not entirely stupid, finds his way into Gastown and takes it for himself. He offers the previous deal they had with Joe, in return for Little D and The Organic Mechanic (Angus Sampson, The Lincoln Lawyer). Well, technically Joe takes them as part of the deal. Dementus doesn't have as much leverage as he hopes. That is the repeated truth of Dementus, in that while he feels he is underestimated, he constantly overestimates the effect he has on people. Little D escapes from Joe's clutches almost immediately, hiding among his people as a boy.
Third Act. Years later. Another chase. Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy, Morgan) has become a Dogman, the grunt mechanics of The Citadel. But she has a plan and works through it with precision, helping build the legendary (but first) War Rig, something that is already "shiny & chrome", even so far to be adorned with a bas relief of Immortan Joe and his legacy. It is driven by Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke, CB Strike), a survivor of more runs (between the triad of Gastown, the Citadel and Bullet Town) than any other. Based on the actions of these two movies, that could mean surviving more than two runs, but hey, he's legendary, his truck is legendary. Furiosa (secretly) rides with him, and survives an attack by Dementus's crew... actually no, its a breakaway crew belonging to the Octoboss (Goran D Kleut, Wyrmwood Apocalypse), someone who has already seen how Dementus treats those who are loyal to him. Just another example of the slow degradation of Dementus's reign. She is the lone survivor, and Jack offers her a place in his crew, and a promise to help her escape, once a new crew is trained up.
Fourth Act. Some time later, again. New crew, same War Rig. Furiosa is now a Praetorian. A run to the Bullet Farm where another plan is in place. Jack and Furiosa will change things up, her lagging behind in a vehicle packed with two bikes and lots of supplies. While the crew is concerned with filling up the tanks with bullets, they will escape into the wasteland (small W) together, making for the Greenlands.
Exceeeept, it doesn't as planned. Dementus has already taken the Bullet Farm and wants the War Rig, probably for another Trojan Horse attempt. They do succeed in surviving the attack, so, another chase. They are captured, Jack is killed and Furiosa only survives by gnawing off her own arm... well, not literally but she might as well have. So long Jack, you are gone far too soon. Furiosa returns to The Citadel, minus one arm, but with great resolve.
Fifth Act. A reckoning. She builds an arm. She instructs the angry, petty, awash with toxic masculinity fools to not pursue Dementus to Gas Town, which is on fire, but to prepare for his attack. We get the "40 Day War", where we see whatever crew Dementus has left cut down, piles of bodies, almost all vehicles destroyed or in need of repair. And Dementus escapes.
There ya go Dementus, ya get yer Jesus thing.
The last chase. Despite an attempt at deception, he is caught and the words just keep on coming out of him, never stopping. He is not regretful, and he has his "freakishly high pain tolerance" but he asks one thing of her, that she "make it Epic."
She does.
So, there we have it. Mega post for Mega movie. Something I didn't bless the first movie with after only a single cinema viewing. But what did I think? I still strongly believe I loved it, but I still have some issues. The production of Fury Road was said to have been a nightmare, but from the fires of the forge we got perfection. This seems.... rushed? It is tightly paced, but maybe covers too much? He shaved off the bright, saturated colours of Fury Road for crisp, clean scenes but supplemented by CGI far too often, and far too obviously.
What I really need to do is see it a third time, in cinema.
Kent's post. We agree, but a tempered agree.
What?!?!? Not even a single reference to Chris Hemsworth and the nose/teeth? Seriously?
I'm a regular listener to Maximum Film and generally take their critical praise seriously but I felt they all missed the mark with this one. They all went in with specific expectations that were not met, and specific thoughts as to what it should be that it wasn't. Their prerogative, but they weren't looking at the film for what it was.
ReplyDeleteNothing will beat Fury Road, but that was a film of confluence that I don't think anyone involved cared to try to repeat despite the masterpiece of an outcome.
Furiosa is long, a little messy but loaded to the (bullet) teeth with awe, wonder, and razzle dazzle action. You've watched it twice, I can't believe I've only watched it once. I really wanted to see it a second time on the bigg screen. We will go at the earliest available opportunity. It's going on the shelf.