MOVIE REVIEW: FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA

 

Snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.

Director: George Miller

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme, Nathan Jones

Release Date: May 24, 2024

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for sequences of strong violence, and grisly images.

Runtime: 2h 28m

Review:

George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga doesn't bring the same level of action overload that Fury Road brought but it does deliver a level of visual storytelling rarely seen in summer blockbusters.  Miller brings a mythic approach to the central character's story which permeates every frame of this film as we traverse the apocalyptic wasteland.  It’s a more methodical approach overall as Miller splashes a succession of striking visuals with a handful resembling a series of crazed renaissance paintings.  There's still plenty of teeth rattling action although much more contained to three large set pieces replete with an insanely large amount of stunt performers flying around on a variety of vehicles.  It’s hard not to marvel at the logistical choreography on display during these extended action scenes which beg to be seen on the big screen although those expecting a full two and half hours of these breakneck sequences will be slightly disappointed.  While Furiosa's overall backstory is fairly simple and straight forward it’s clear that Miller has a deep affection for the character as he takes his time with her journey with Anya Taylor-Joy not showing up until the one hour mark.  Alyla Browne carries that first hour doing solid work showing the fledgling ferocity that blossoms in the film's second half.  Once Anya Taylor-Joy does take over she proves to be more than capable of embodying the character with impressive intensity, nearly matching Charlize Theron's singular turn in Fury Road.  She makes wonderful use of her large expressive eyes, readily suited to reflect the character's dogged determination and steely gaze for the role which is fairly light on dialogue.  Chris Hemsworth gets much more dialogue to work with and he's clearly enjoying himself playing the film's villain.  He steals every scene he's in and the film sorely misses his energy when he's offscreen.  His bombastic turn is over the top and twisted but there's still a sliver of humanity that comes through exemplified in a late stage sequence between him and Taylor-Joy.  The rest of the supporting cast kind of pale in comparison to the central pair with Tom Burke, who get a decent amount of screen time, failing to leave a real mark as Furiosa's mentor/love interest.   Minor issues like that keep this film from reaching the heights that Fury Road achieved but that doesn't keep it from working perfectly as an excellent companion piece to that film.

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of Mank

 

My dearest reader(s): One of the sad casualties of 2020 has been what I will snobbishly call "cinema-worthy" movies, that is, movies that don't feel like they were made for TV. Sure, there have been some, but the pickings have been slim. I am pleased to report that last week Netflix threw a solid entry into the skimpy awards season fray with its original picture, Mank, the reasonably true story behind the writing of Citizen Kane.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailer or if you're familiar with actual events, which, I assure you, I am not.

Disclaimers, away!

Folks, I hate old movies. That may seem like a weird thing to hear from someone who spends three-quarters of her free time watching movies, but it is the gods' honest truth. If it was made before 1970 and it's not the Wizard of Oz or something with the Marx Brothers, no thank you. Citizen Kane is frequently cited as one of the greatest — if not *the* greatest — films of all time. I couldn't be less interested. Mank is made in the style of those classic, old, black-and-white movies, and that certainly didn't help me warm to it.

On the flip side, Gary Oldman remains my favorite actor in the known universe, and my life has been way too short on Gary Oldman lately. Heck, for the last two years I haven't even had time to make my (in?)famous Gary Calendar; instead I've had to buy premade calendars, and I can assure you, those don't come in "Gary Oldman." A new Gary Oldman movie definitely represents one of 2020's few bright spots.

Art is, by nature, subjective, but, by any objective criteria I can mark, Mank is a pretty good movie. The story is interesting and well-told, jumping from Herman Mankiewicz toiling over the film's screenplay while recuperating after an automobile accident to flashbacks (always notated as they would be in a script) that give us the backstory: Who is Mankiewicz, and how did he end up where he is? Gary Oldman is nothing short of brilliant (she says with maybe a hint of bias), and I think Oscar buzz around his performance is well founded. The supporting cast is very much up to snuff as well, with solid work from Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tuppence Middleton, Sam Troughton, Tom Burke (yay!), and the always brilliant Jamie McShane. Directed by David Fincher, with a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Mank also represents a little reunion of some people who helped create the film that *I* consider the greatest of all time: the Social Network. Other than running a little longer than it needs to, there's nothing practical I can call out as a negative, BUT...I struggled to get through Mank all the same. I was bored enough that at one point I had to put my phone in a drawer I couldn't reach to keep from goofing off instead of paying attention. If you're reading this, I guess you're interested in my honest opinion, so there it is: Mank is a good movie that I didn't like very much, but Gary Oldman makes it worth watching (as he always does).

Mank clocks in at 131 minutes and is rated R for "some language."

Give Gary Oldman another Oscar now, please and thank you. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Mank gets seven.

Until next time...