- Directed by George Miller
- Written by George Miller, Nick Lathouris
- Stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke
- Run Time: 2 Hours, 28 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJMuhwVlca4
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was a little disappointing after the steady action of the previous “Mad Max: Fury Road.” There was plenty of action in this one, but also lots of talking and down time. And the CGI use seemed more obvious this time around. Still, the cast is good, and it does tell us how Furiosa becomes who she is.
Spoilery Synopsis
We hear voice overs about the collapse of society as the credits roll.
We zoom into central Australia, in a green place. Two children pick apples to eat. Furiosa and her friend see a motorcycle gang sneak in to check them out “invisibly.” She’s spotted, but she signals her people for help. The gang grabs the little girl and rides away. Two women on horseback pursue, “None must live to tell of this place.” It doesn’t take long before the “gang” is down to two motorcycles and one determined pursuer.
The final gang man takes Furiosa to Dementus’s camp. He’s got a whole colorful crew of weirdos, and they want to know where she’s from. He wants to know where she’s from, but she won’t speak. Meanwhile, the pursuer, Furiosa’s mother, dresses up like one of Dementus’s men and sneaks into camp. Under cover of a sandstorm, Furiosa and her mother escape, but Dementus has a way to track them.
Furiosa rides on, but her mother remains behind to fight. When Dementus tortures the mother, Furiosa returns to Dementus, who puts her in a cage. The History Man advises her to make herself invaluable, and Dementus will have to look after her.
One day, Dementus, in his chariot, encounters a lone War Boy. The war boy says he, too, comes from a place of abundance. Dementus brings his whole crew to the place indicated, which just happens to be Immortan Joe’s Citadel.
They all ride and demand their leader’s surrender. He makes a speech about the people being able to choose their leader. He sees Immortan Joe and the People Eater and isn’t impressed. They aren’t impressed with him either, as they demonstrate that Joe’s soldiers are willing to die for their leader.
Rictus and Scrotus, Joe’s sons, decide it’s time for a fight– and we get a big one. Things do not go well for Dementus, whose army retreats at high speed toward Gas Town. They watch the War Rig going back and forth with gasoline shipments to Immortan Joe’s Citadel. They capture it and replace the men aboard with their own people in disguise.
The trick works, and they capture GasTown and Joe’s brother. This makes negotiating with Immortan Joe more equal. For the negotiations, Dementus takes his leaders with him, and little Furiosa goes along. Joe wants her. They make a trade agreement, but Joe demands both Furiosa and the Organic Mechanic.
Furiosa is sent to live with Joe’s many wives. One of the wives gives birth to a four-legged baby, so that’s not good. Rictus gets a crush on her, but she gets away from him. Time passes, and Furiosa has blended in with Joe’s peasants; she’s working for them now.
We cut to a post-apocalyptic “shop class” where they gather to build a new War Rig. Furiosa is there, disguised as a boy. Praetorian Jack is the driver of the new rig. Some rogue warriors out in the wasteland attack the rig; Furiosa is there, under the truck, to keep the big truck running. It’s a long and costly battle for both sides, especially when the attackers have air power. In the end, only Furiosa and Jack remain. He offers to teach her everything he knows about “Road War.”
Furiosa and Jack drive the rig to the Bullet Farm, the third big fortress of the wasteland. They pick up weapons there for Joe’s army. Jack says she’s proved herself, and he’ll help her leave for wherever she wants to go.
When they arrive at Gas Town, there appears to be a full-on revolt happening. Dementus is in charge, and he’s not happy with Joe’s management. He calls for a meeting of the leaders of the cities. Immortan Joe, The Bullet Farmer, and The People Eater are not willing to negotiatie with Dementus and prepare for war.
Jack and Furiosa drive to the Bullet Farm to load up for the war. It’s a trap, Dementus has already taken the place. Only Furiosa gets out. Jack is locked inside and can’t get out. Furiosa sees this as her chance to shoot Dementus, and takes her shots. Somehow, she manages to rescue Jack, but she doesn’t get Dementus.
Furiosa takes Jack across the desert toward her long-ago home. Except Dementus and his men are not far behind. There’s a battle. Jack gets shot and Furiosa injures her arm before they crash. Dementus makes a whole speech about justice and retribution. Furiosa is tied up, but she escapes after cutting off her own arm and sabotaging Dementus’s ride.
We cut to Mad Max standing on a cliff; this has caught up to the beginning of “Fury Road.”
But we continue. Furiosa returns to the Citadel and tells Joe’s people everything. Dementus has Gas Town and the Bullet Farm, so he moves against the Citadel.
The battle rages on for forty days. Meanwhile, Furiosa gets a mechanical arm. She steals Scrotus’s car. The supercharged car easily overtakes Dementus and disables his vehicle.
After hours of torture, Dementus finally recognizes who Furiosa is. Eventually, she drags him back to the Citadel. They pin him to the ground and plant a tree in his living body.
Some time later, Furiosa leads Immortan Joe’s wives out to the rig to make their escape, which was in the other film…
Commentary
The standout character is Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, who’s so over-the-top that it’s just perfect.
There are many scenes that just seem posed, very artsy-fartsy-like. There are a lot of interesting characters here, better than any comic book movie. Unlike the previous film, “Fury Road,” there’s a lot of very obvious CGI in this one. This one was long and it felt long as well, especially since we already know who lives and who dies. It gave us a lot of backstory that we didn’t need and stretched on far too long.
It was exciting in the good parts, but there was waaaaay too much talking in this one. The one thing that really saved “Fury Road” was that it was relentless and never slowed down for an instant. This one did.