Filmmaniak

Fury Road was a masterpiece of the action genre and it was so high-powered that it wouldn’t even be impossible to offer more of the same. Though Furiosa is a return to the familiar parched desert world in which water, gasoline and ammunition are worth more than human lives, it also goes its own way and is thus a rather different film in terms of narrative. However, it is still almost as intensely effective as its predecessor and it also offers perfect, breathtaking action, but that isn’t the focal point of everything this time, as attention is concentrated on the characters for a change. The actors are great and the film abounds with creative screenwriting and directing ideas. George Miller has again served up an epic, energetic, uncompromising and entertaining action spectacle in a way that one might expect from directors less than half his age.

A dreadful attempt at an adventure thriller that resulted in an unintentional parody of the hixploitation genre that brings to mind a blend of The Rafters and Deliverance. The primitive plot culminates with a transparent twist, which is presented as surprising and shocking, despite the fact that it had to have been obvious to viewers no later than the midpoint of the film. As time passes, the suspense and mystery fade from the story instead of building up. The actors are there only so that there is someone to hold the paddles; the female characters are there so that each of them can show their breasts at least once. A shining exception is Miroslav Krobot, who is the only one to hand in something that could be called an acting performance. Unlike the others, only his character is given some dimension and at least a little spontaneity. The retarded would-be Balkan language of the natives/cops is in a category of its own and definitively buries the last hope that anyone could take this unentertaining and agonising film seriously.

This unbelievably rich animated comic-book movie draws from a deliberate sense of detachment, internet memes, pop-culture references, the long history of comic books and the sense of refinement with which its creators approach the frenetic action scenes and work with the characters. Despite its ultra-brisk pace, abundance of gags and wealth of dynamic action, the thrilling audio-visual feast packed with imaginative details maintains, through the story of two young superheroes and their family background, a serious dramatic level highlighting the quiet emotions and slower dialogue passages built on family relationships and the themes of fatefulness, growing up and the struggle against predestination.