My depression has finally lifted enough to do these again. 
The thing about prequels is that a great many of them to their detriment in my opinion, take the approach of âthis is exactly precisely and rigidly how the things you know and love, came to be.â Over the years through watching various attempts at prequel stories, I have discovered generally that I donât like this approach as it tends to be like spackle; technical, and serviceable, filling the gaps, but nowhere close to the explosion of artistic expression and creation of the original architecture. Instead, to me, the best prequels are âyou wonât believe how this set up right now becomes the thing you already know and love.â This approach IS fraught with danger for Continuity Stans for sure (my condolences to Lord of the Rings fans currently suffering through The Rings of PowerâŚbut I digress) But itâs because I think in general a core element of all engaging stories is a sense of discovery. Even if the world is already familiar, I would want to be walking through a set up or scenario or an arc where I am being given reveals instead of explanations. Itâs definitely a balance of the new and an affirmation of the old, and itâs not a perfect science, writing and story is never that, but I do think it is a guiding light that might help a great many prequel stories sort of stand on their own.
And so yeah, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is absolutely not that.
Some of the best Mad Max World stories feature a pretty clean and simple story draped in action that tells the story as well or better as dialogue could ever. The lesser entries are more meandering, and a bit overcomplicated. And thatâs a problem here. My biggest question after the credits rolled was âwhy did I have to see this story?â And I really donât have a good answer for that. Obviously I am writing this through the lens of things I like to see and experience, so I have to say that as much as I loved Mad Max: Fury Road and the character of Furiosa, I wasnât clamoring inside my wee little brain to find out more about her past. And weirdly in a way neither does this movie, as sheâs not even a focus for about Âź of the movie. I literally donât know why Ana Taylor Joy is in this and not some other actress, other than butts in seats maybe. And thatâs a problem. And so without a clear path to watch how this character grows, it feels more like a series of vignettes that might have been better as a Mad Max anthology viewed in disjoined 15 minute snippets on Netflix.
Itâs a bit ironic to discuss how this prequel binds itself to a certain level of rigid continuity because in general the franchise on a whole exists in the form that it does because it has ignored a sense of rigid continuity from one movie to the next to get to where it is. It constantly has reinvented itself. This has led to it having a sense of discovery, even when an entry might not have been the best (sorry Thunderdome.) The beauty of the world of Mad Max is that the world pretty much explains to you thorough inference of how anyone you see beside Max himself, has come to be. It always leaves it up to you the viewer to fill the gaps and doesnât engage in spoon feeding. Perhaps now, because todayâs audience is so much more invested in every single piece of anything that has happened on screen and sometimes books (and in this movieâs case apparently, in video games as well) we get this movie whichâŚwellâŚdoes all the things Iâve talked about. This movie engages in a level of holding your hand and TELLING more than previous entries have, and again Thunderdome does this to some degree and I think partly thatâs why it ranks a little lower than the rest.
Prior to this movie, the world of Mad Max felt expansive, and actually a bit mysterious, and full of unknown and unforeseen variations on the original theme. You never knew just quite what was on the other side of the literal and figurative horizon from one movie to the next. It has moved from a semi-futuristic dystopia, to a semi-grounded post apocalyptic tale to bonkers metal fantasy. But in this movie, the world seems smaller, more defined and lessâŚexciting? Itâs reined itself in rather than reaching out.
Now, if you just like action, you will get plenty of that. And itâs George Miller, one of the greatest and maybe underrated creators we have today. For all the things Iâve talked about here that didnât excite me, the movie still does truly look beautiful and thereâs a lot to love in the action sequences and cinematography. But thatâs really about it. Having said that, thatâs enough for this movie to rate as good, and despite my focusing on where I think it missed, all the rest of it is enough to make this movie an experience where you wonât feel like youâve wasted your time. But also really, even people that love the movie seem compelled to go back and watch Fury Road whichâŚsays something to me. And what it says to me is not affirming.
I hope how this movie occurs to me is just a byproduct of this being a prequel and this entry is merely a side quest, and our next entry in the world continues to be an ever growing experience of weirdness with new faces and new foes. But then again, Iâm kind of a hypocrite, because I wouldnât mind seeing that sweet sweet V-8 Interceptor featured again so what do I know?
And thus ends the lesson.
I give Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, 3 Peach Pits out of 5.⢠(
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Until the next Review that you Didnât Ask For, @thearmag3ddon signing off.