When George Miller returned to the world of Mad Max in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road, he delivered one of the greatest films of the century, and now, with the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga‘s first trailer, he’s looking to do it again. Shiny and chromes, indeed.
Furiosa (Do we really need the subtitle?) is a prequel to Mad Max telling the story of the now iconic character from the first film, except now Ana Taylor-Joy is playing the titular character instead of Charlize Theron. In the film, we learn how Imperator Furiosa was taken from her family and became the woman we saw in Fury Road, and evidently, it involves a lot of desert car chases, post-apocalyptic wastelands, and Chris Hemsworth finally being allowed to speak in his native Australian accent in a film. There are plenty of nod-backs to the 2015 film here as we see Furiosa taken from the Green Place of Many Mothers 45 years after the fall of civilization by Dementus (Hemsworth) and the return of Immortan Joe.
The film sees almost the entire production team return, except for director of photography John Seale, who collaborated one final time with Miller on the underrated and underseen Three Thousand Years of Longing. That means it’s all the more likely the magic of Fury Road can be recaptured.
However, the trailer looks surprisingly stuffed with CGI effects. One of the stand-out aspects of Fury Road was Miller’s dedication to practical (and absolutely bonkers) effects and stunts, but that commitment appears to have shifted if this trailer is any indication. That’s not to say the film will be bad – Miller basically only makes good films and can tackle pretty much anything, from talking animals to witch comedies. The Mad Max franchise has veered dramatically in style over its four entries, so Miller choosing to go in a different direction with this one should be no surprise.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will release on May 24, 2024.
