Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

I really enjoyed this film! It is _a lot_ of explosions and brutality, but it was continually compelling — even as I questioned why I was so invested. At 2h20m it definitely made me feel my sleepy age (I saw it on my 39th birthday, and I was squinting and yawning by the end!) but I felt more impressed that a relatively slow paced film gripped me for so long. It's a proper odyssey, with poor Furiosa only wanting to get home; but the trials she faces grow organically out of the plot and the universe, and give Furiosa a depth I didn't expect from a character/actor who's almost entirely expressionless through the film. This entry in the Mad Max continuum (though I've only watched [the first](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9659-mad-max), and [Fury Road](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/76341-mad-max-fury-road)) steers away from exploring the whats and whys of the apocalyptic world they live in, tempting though I'm sure it was in a 2024 that has _so many_ parallels, and instead lets us draw our own conclusions. The men in power who lie and rabble-rouse to get the power they desire, just so they can watch the world burn (again); how much we all embrace making ourselves vulnerable for the hope of human connection; the power dynamics and game theory in a world where two thirds of what you need is only necessary because of collective attitudes. I'm certain I'll watch this again—and as a stand-alone film—which, for a long and relatively simple plot, is something very uncommon for me. I hope you enjoy it too! (Originally posted on [byJP](https://www.byjp.me/posts/reviews/movies/furiosa-a-mad-max-saga/))