Following its world premiere at Cannes overnight, George Miller’s "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" has been scrutinized from every angle in comparison to its predecessors. Critics, for the most part, have reacted positively, acknowledging the challenge of following up on the success of "Mad Max: Fury Road
In 2015, Mad Max: Fury on the Race won the Cannes Film Festival and that is why the expectation in 2024 was maximum. The first impression is that with Furiosa: from the Mad Max saga, for the first time, the series reviews itself, clarifying matters that were previously understood, and, although essentially it remains the best chase cinema, suddenly a more romantic tone emerges.
Nine years ago, the previous Mad Max film, starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, premiered at the Grand Théâtre Lumière at the Palais des Festivals. It went on to earn over $380 million and win six Oscars. The challenges faced during the 2012 production in Namibia have since become legendary.
In the latest instalment, the action moves back to Australia. Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy are set to play the lead roles where the protagonist is captured from the Green Place of Many Mothers and ends up in the hands of a powerful Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth.
Taking place over 15 years, the standalone action film follows Furiosa as she spends her formative years at the Citadel, following an exchange between Dementus and Immortan Joe (Lachy Hume).
As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa escapes her place among Immortan Joe’s wives and plots a path toward returning home and exacting revenge.
Expectations were always high for the film, produced by Kennedy Miller Mitchell for Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. Its reputed budget was more than $400 million, making it the largest production to ever be shot in Australia.
According to Deadline, which reported a nearly eight-minute standing ovation at the end of the out-of-competition screening, the film “has the goods.” Critic Peter Hammond wrote that Miller and co-writer Nico Lathouris had created “the best screenplay of any Mad Max film” while also praising the casting choices.
While this year’s Cannes boasts many prominent upcoming premieres, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” with Emma Stone, the “Furiosa” debut was easily the biggest megawatt Hollywood event of the festival. Among the attendees were jury head Greta Gerwig, Eva Green, Naomi Campbell and Baz Luhrmann.
“Furiosa” opens in North American theatres on May 24.
About George Miller
Miller was born in Brisbane, Queensland, to Greek immigrant parents: Dimitri (Jim) Castrisios Miliotis and Angela Balson. Dimitri Miliotis was from the Greek island of Kythera, and he anglicised his "nickname" to Miller and adopted it as his surname when he emigrated to Australia; the Balson family were Greek refugees from Anatolia. The couple married and settled in Chinchilla and had four sons. The first two were the non-identical twins George and John, and later, Chris and Bill Miller arrived.
