Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

In the post-apocalyptic world, two young girls were picking fruit in a garden-like oasis in the middle of a vast Australian desert when they spotted a band of bikers.  Furiosa (Alyla Browne) sneaked through the brush to investigate but was grabbed by a biker.  She fled and blew her whistle but was soon slung across the bike - bound hand and foot - which raced into the desert.  Her mother (Charlee Fraser) gave chase, picking off members of the band, but the last one successfully returned to the camp of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).  Furiosa became the faux-daughter of Dementus and never spoke.

Dementus was an ambitious man, eager to secure more power in the Wasteland.  When he came upon the citadel of Immortan Joe, he immediately sought to capture it.  That didn't go well.  However, he was a crafty fellow and soon had an 'understanding' with Joe.  The understanding cost - among other considerations - Furiosa.  For the next decade, Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) quietly - almost entirely mute and posing as a boy - earned a spot for herself among the mechanics.  Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) - a noted road warrior - recognized her talents during a mission and apprenticed her as a road warrior.

A prequel to Fury Road (2015), this movie gives the story of Furiosa's rise.  I preferred the vague backstory from Fury Road rather than this detailed chronology.  Initially, she was brought into Joe's harem to eventually be one of his brides, but she ran off before she was of age.  Where did she go?  Down to the garage.  Clearly, Joe's efforts to find her failed.  Rather than explore this transition, the story just jumps forward a year or two with her already established among the laborers.  By the time she is Praetorian Jack's apprentice, it is clear she is a woman and no one seems to care.

The movie has some great road combat, very like those of Fury Road.  However, it was harder to be invested in the characters.  Praetorian Jack gets a lot of screen time but not so much character development.  Throughout his time with Furiosa, he's the leader but at the same time he plays like her sidekick.  Yeah, it didn't quite work.  Imagine a Batman movie where Robin was the main character.  Furiosa's mission is to get revenge against Dementus and then return home.  This movie tells her revenge story - mostly - while the next one is her return home story.  Early on, Dementus is an impressive villain and it is hard to believe that dainty Furiosa could overcome him.  By the last act, he's easy to kill, a mouse to her cat.  He's no threat to her at all, having destroyed himself and his gang in a futile war against Immortan Joe.

As far as the acting, the only stand out is Chris Hemsworth.  His Dementus dominates any scene he's in, being a loud-mouthed braggart who is supremely confident in his abilities.  He's clever and daring.  If not for his cruel villainy, he might be a fun fellow to have over for dinner.  By contrast, Anya Taylor-Joy is stuck being mute for most of the movie, offering the occasional glare to mar her otherwise expressionless face.

Just okay.

Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) is a bookish scholar who studies narratology.  Having landed in Istanbul for a conference, she is confronted by a small man who doesn't seem entirely substantial.  During a presentation at the conference, she sees a scowling ghostly figure in the crowd.  No matter where she looks, there is the increasingly angry figure that suddenly attacks!  After being revived from having feinted away, she explains that she has an overactive imagination and sometimes hallucinates.  Later, during a visit to the Grand Bazaar, she buys a bottle.  While brushing her teeth the following morning, she decides to pull the cap, which is firmly stuck by some resin.  No sooner does she pop the top than out swirls a Djinn (Idris Elba).  Though he offers her 3 wishes, she is resistant.  She knows that the wishes never end well.  The Djinn offers his tale of woe regarding his imprisonment in the bottle and his multiple attempts to fulfill the three wishes and free himself, all ending badly.

Is the Djinn just another of Alithea's hallucinations?  Are his tales just a figment of her fertile imagination that is fueled by long years of reading?  That all his tales end exactly as she predicts might say so.  However, there are times when it seems others see the Djinn.

Not at all what one expects from George Miller, most noted for his apocalyptic Mad Max films.  Then again, he also did Babe: Pig in the City and the Happy Feet series.  Interesting and engaging but not satisfying.  It is an unusual love story, a romance of two oddballs.  Then again, maybe it is the descent into insanity of a lonely woman.

Just okay.