The Reel Rejects - JUST WATCHED FURIOSA!! Instant Reaction & Review! (A Mad Max Saga)

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Starting point is 00:01:22 And we chose to go with slightly better audio for the purposes of this. John, I think we just saw cinema. We just saw cinema. What was the title of cinema? This was Cinema Max Cinema Road. No, this was Furiosa. A Mad Max saga. And we saw it at IMAX.

Starting point is 00:01:42 Mad IMAX. Because we love IMAX. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm just going to tell you up front, I love this movie so much. I have not talk about this movie with John for one second. I loved it. And four reasons that you are probably not experienced. expecting to hear. Reason why is because when you see the trailer for this, you're like, okay, I get it. Origins and more of the shit I love. It is so much more than that. It is so vastly different, but still a perfect companion piece to Mad Max Fury Road. I thought this was an excellent film, and I cannot wait to share with you the specifics as to why I loved it so much. Again, probably not what you're expecting of why. But John, what did you think? I mean, I'm still putting my brain back together, TBH.

Starting point is 00:02:31 I mean, it's always a journey when you get to enter the Mad Max world. It's a symphony, obviously, of violence and insane, quirky characters and whatnot. But what I loved about this was that while certainly it had all the earmarks, it was a little bit different than I was expecting in a lot of fun and interesting and juicy ways. So I'm excited to get into it. With Mad Max Fury Road, that is a very tight film where it is one of the big takeaways, is the biggest character out of Mad Max Fury Road is not the actual characters themselves.

Starting point is 00:03:02 It's kind of the set pieces. It's kind of the action. The infinite chase. That's what everyone talks about with that film is the practical effects and the stunts. And you get all that here. But when those scenes are there in this one, it hits so different on a kind of darker emotional core level

Starting point is 00:03:18 because this one is, it feels like a novel. I feel like a great way to see this movie is through the perspective of how George Miller said he crafted this one. If you guys ever see interviews that I once in a while do with an actor, I tend to ask the question of like, is there any history with this character that perhaps we did not

Starting point is 00:03:35 see explored in the movie, but stuff that you crafted and generated? I love asking that question. I think it's a great actor's question. Come to find out, George Miller wrote this movie before Mad Max Fury Road because he wanted to have all the answers to Furiosa. He actually crafted the entire script,

Starting point is 00:03:52 gave that to Charlize Theron, so that way she had the whole history. And that That's what we're seeing on screen. Like for the long time, like Anya Taylor Joy's pitched front and center as Furiosa. I don't know how long it is. It's a very long time before you actually get to Furio, to Anya Taylor Joy is Furiosa. Because he is immersing you into the wasteland. You see things of like Bullet Farm talked about in Fury Road.

Starting point is 00:04:15 The gas town, where Furiosa grew up. The green place. You hear the story about how she was kidnapped. And that's what this story is so focused on is the psychological. development of this kidnapped child and then watching as she is thrust it into servitude and then you get all this exceptional world building it feels more menacing more dreadful more unsettling more horrific like i wasn't really there going oh wow this is so fun and exciting because while there is exciting action scenes it's kind of crazy to be watching a prequel to

Starting point is 00:04:49 something where you know the fate of the character yet you actually don't know where this movie's going for so much of it because there's this level of certainty, but there's also so much of this level of uncertainty as you're watching it. So it's full of surprises in ways that are so much rich in narrative and drama that part of me is going, I wonder if people will actually accept this film because it's not this, you know, nonstop action fiasco the way how the other one was. Like this spans a lot, it feels like a novel, this one. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, it does, you know, involve a sort of chapter device, whereas Fury Road is off-described. as one long chase scene broken up by a few dialogue scenes in between.

Starting point is 00:05:29 This definitely punctuates the action in a different manner because there are those big set pieces. There are those gorgeous, you know, stunning stunts and things like that. But Fury Road definitely feels like it is digging into glensing that with like all of the up-close perspective possible, whereas here you are sort of in a slightly different beast that is a bit zanier in ways and is a bit more dialed into, the maniacal personalities warring with each other throughout this landscape.

Starting point is 00:05:59 And so certainly that does involve violence and action and driving and stunts. But yeah, this was way more twisted in like a personal way. That's sort of what makes the Mad Max universe so special and engrossing to me is that even though like you said, you know where Furiosa is bound to end up because we've seen Fury Road, there's something about this place, this world, and even akin to the prior Mad Max movies, it's like Wheresoever you stride, probably some crazy, demented situation is taking place, and it's probably going to pull you into its gravity, and you're probably going to have to deal with that. And so much of Furios' journey feels like this spontaneous, twisted thing, the way it sells both the emotionality of that and the physicality of that I thought was really gripping. And again, in a totally different way, in a way that breathes a bit more, in a way that is propulsive in a different sense.

Starting point is 00:06:50 Fury Road's always kind of chugging forward, whereas this is. kind of giving you a greater array of the weird political landscape of the wasteland and, yeah, expounding on characters that we meet in Fury Road. And I feel like it's unique to the Mad Max films in that way as well because so many of them are episodic, whereas this is a direct kind of expansion on a storyline within that world. Yeah, some of my favorite scenes in this movie. There's this fantastic scene with Chris Hemsworth and Morton Joe

Starting point is 00:07:21 that is not action at all but man is it gripping like there's a lot of scenes in here you often don't hear that about Fury Road you mainly just hear about the action being gripping but of course complimentary towards the characters but mainly it's the action set pieces there's so many scenes in here

Starting point is 00:07:38 where it's just performance based primarily while still giving you like really cool visuals in there the way I liken it is like Fury Road is capturing the energy of the paranoia frenzy that Max is going through in that movie but with Furiosa being the main character here it's kind of like the dissent into more despairing consequences and situations as the film is going so that's why the action hits differently on a different emotional level where I found myself worried for other

Starting point is 00:08:06 characters that they introduced here oh yeah but we got to talk about like Chris Hemsworth man this guy's either good at playing bumbling buff guys or sadistic psychopaths you can be fluctuate between the two so well and I loved his portrayal here he is his scene work and just how much fun he's having it is madcap he fancies himself to be more sophisticated than he actually is but it's really powerful and scary and fun and a wonderful addition to yeah I thought he was wonderful I thought it was absolutely wonderful yeah yeah and it's gratifying especially having heard him talk recently about his experiences with the different Thor movies and stuff like that. And his career at large, I was very overjoyed for him because, you know, there are a lot of

Starting point is 00:08:55 movies that he is great in as a character performer. I was thinking of like bad times at the El Royale. Another psychopath. Another psychopath. And here, again, like Mad Max is populated through every movie with bigger than life characters. But I love that this gave him a chance to, yes, embody all the physicality we know him for, but to completely make a role his own and to leave an impression based off of his acting chops and beyond just the intensity but the humor like there's a lot of like unexpected humor that happens throughout this movie just because it is a ridiculous world that we're in and it is you know sadistic but also like everyone's kind of normalized to that and so that creates different mundanities and things and I thought the way that he embodied again this guy who fancies himself

Starting point is 00:09:39 one thing and is clearly another thing but not in a cartoony way or in a way that's you know too broad I thought was really nicely pitched. And again, it seemed like he had free reign to make this character his own, but it fully fits within the world. And it makes great contrast to, like, an Immorton Joe or somebody who you do get the sense, like, can back up what they're talking, you know? Yeah, and won't spoil too much because there are other characters from Fury Road, with this being a prequel and exploring more of the Citadel and characters that were in Fury Road.

Starting point is 00:10:06 You get to hang out with them a little bit more and a couple of new ones as well. And it even expands upon the Citadel to get you a deeper, understanding of the intricacies of how the Citadel works. I'll say, though, like, when it comes to the action, I don't want to sound like I'm sliding it. Like, there are set pieces in here that are just beautiful. And I feel like what he really captured George Miller, that was beyond just great, exquisite, you know, touchstones that we kind of come to expect with here is infusing it with dramatic

Starting point is 00:10:37 tension. Like, there's this early on in the movie, there's this bike chase sequence that's maybe not, It's not super fancy. It's more like a hunt bike chase scene. Oh, yeah. And I was so gripped in it. I was like, oh my God, I'm going to love this movie because it's not even like crazily done, but it's so gripping.

Starting point is 00:10:56 It's the spontaneity of the action because, yeah, this one doesn't have quite as many of those like, oh my God, screenshot that put it on a wall as big as you can. Like there are slightly less of those super picturesque beats, but the intensity and the spontaneity of like one action leads to another action and everyone's kind of figuring it out. on the fly. That stuff generates the intensity and that stuff is absolutely here. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, and there are scenes and moments where you find yourself like, you know, in Blockbuster Brain Mode predicting what might happen and it never quite goes that way and it always feels a little bit more real. And so while this is a vibier and a more tonal movie in terms of

Starting point is 00:11:32 character exploration, yeah, this still has that action punch and there is always a sense that we're going to need to move and we're going to need to strike throughout. I guess the movie I would compare it the most to is if you've seen the raid and the raid too, because the raid is like a tight action movie that takes place in this one little time frame. Yeah, very linear. It was like this expansive character-driven

Starting point is 00:11:55 dark unsettled drama. Yeah, you're looking across the whole landscape. But they still got the action. Yeah, totally. And the action hits different because of what's surrounding it, it's less cheering. Like, you want to applaud because of craftsmanship, but not cheer in the same way you would in the prior movie, you know?

Starting point is 00:12:10 Anya Taylor Joy, like, while I appreciate that. The movie really takes this time before you actually get to Anya Taylor Joy. And I did understand the choice as experiencing the movie with why you would cast someone who looks significantly younger

Starting point is 00:12:24 for Furiosa because to demonstrate the journey of her as youth. Because this movie literally starts off where she's like a little girl and it spends a lot of time. I don't know who that actress is that plays really young Furiosa. The movie spends a lot of time with her.

Starting point is 00:12:39 Fury Road, I should say not the first one, but Fury Road is like three days. or something. And then this is, yeah, way more swaths of time. Yeah, and I think Anya Taylor Joy, I think she does have great presence. Her voice, I feel like she was channeling Charlize Theron. Totally, yeah. Her specific accent. That, like, soft

Starting point is 00:12:55 but seething delivery, that very calculated delivery. Yeah, and I feel like in Fury Road, you get a little bit more of like, you actually can see the tethering. Like, a lot of actors, they'll call it like prior moments, the history that led to this moment. You see how this is all the history

Starting point is 00:13:11 and lineage that led to when you see Charlie Theron. Without being gimmicky about it, like, oh, you're alone, you're Han Solo. You know, it doesn't do that kind of thing. Yeah, like you get a more sympathetic softer side for reasons explored in this movie that I thought was really strong and I really liked Anya Taylor Joy's performance a lot. There is some linkage parts that this movie does that you would expect in leading In the Fury Road that kind of did make me go, well, if you're going to go that far, I mean, why didn't you get Sharles?

Starting point is 00:13:38 There was a part, but I'm not going to, I was emotionally invested. and Furiosa, I didn't expect to be concerned for a character that I was like, well, I know we're, and like even some of the beats that you expect, you know, like you know about her arm eventually she's going to lose that because you've seen Fury Road. And the way they go into it, I'm like, oh, what a surprise. Like I could say that. I'd be like, you might not even see when it comes. You know, I did it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And that's a great example of something where they take an originy moment, but they really earn the moment that explains how that came to be. and it's striking, and it's something you're not going to forget.

Starting point is 00:14:14 Yeah, you know. And the editing is as amazing as always, again, because of the kind of different movie it is, it's paced differently. You explore a lot more in this film. Tom Hulkenborg's scorer, I would say in the last movie is a little bit more resemblance of, you know, the kind of like the heavy metal side.

Starting point is 00:14:30 It's a little more cool, whereas this one, it's a bit more textural, on zimmery, you know, percolating dread, as John would say. There's a lot more that, like, drum of, like, something bad's going to happen. Yeah, that's a dread tone. Because this movie's, like, not. slow it's slower compared to the last movie

Starting point is 00:14:46 because it's just less nonstop action so it feels like it's moving more gradually but there's always something and they're always taking time between whatever expository thing or whatever action thing to also just have these weird little poetic moments that completely complement the world and the tone of the story yeah it's icky macab um sinister a nerving a beautifully shot i loved it it might be it's like a toss-up between this and Doom Part 2. I feel like it's this one for me. I want to see it again.

Starting point is 00:15:18 I saw a Doom 2 three times, so it's easy for me to say that, but I want to see it again. And I want to see this again, absolutely, because I think this is like the first Mad Max, this is a movie. I think that the Fury Road, this is a movie that will... I would say this feels a little more akin to kind of the earlier Mad Max movie. Sure, yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:15:33 And in fitting with both of the implications of that, the harshness, the grittiness, but also some of the quirkiness. I kind of forget about it. We can't spend so much time talking about FuryRot. I was like, oh, yeah, this feels more like the actual original Mad Max. And now that we've had a couple people play Max, like, it seems actually less hard to adjust to that a couple people have played Furiosa now, even though we aren't as removed in time. But yeah, it's like as compared to the previous movie, like, yeah, there's the initial impact because of all the action, I think, is a little bit more defined. But that makes me more excited to go back and watch this again to see what themes and other things.

Starting point is 00:16:10 come up in the re-watching. But yeah, guys, I thought this might be my favorite movie of the year. I can't wait to watch it again. Everyone stayed through the credits patiently out of respect. You rarely see that because it's like, this is film. This is cinema. And it's giving you a bunch of fun, exploitable elements while also being thoughtful and lyrical and, you know, about more than just that.

Starting point is 00:16:35 Please, I encourage you to go watch this in the theaters. Watch and I'm actually a beautiful picture in that sound. It is definitely probably the most prime way you can watch this film. Yeah, I like a 10 out of a 10 for me. I was like, I was a 10 out of 100 for a compliment. And then I was like, wait, that is an insult and that is downgrading the experience. No, this is like 10 out of 5. This is seriously an amazing film.

Starting point is 00:16:58 And I cannot wait to go watch it again. I really can't. Likewise. Witness.

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The Reel Rejects - JUST WATCHED FURIOSA!! Instant Reaction & Review! (A Mad Max Saga)

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