Remember Her

A movie you should “witness” (Spoilers)

In 2015, writer/director George Miller returned to the world of Mad Max thirty years after the last film. Entitled Mad Max: Fury Road, Tom Hardy replaced Mel Gibson in the role of Max Rockatansky. However, the character who really caught people’s attention was Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron). Now, nine years after Fury Road, we’ve got her origin story in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Though Miller briefly toyed with using digital de-aging technology to allow Theron to reprise her role, he ultimately decided to go old school and have a younger actor play the character. That seems wild in this day and age, right? Regardless, Furiosa is now primarily played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who does an excellent job of emulating Theron.

I say this primarily because the movie’s first act follows Furiosa as a child, in which Alyla Browne plays her. That name sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until I looked it up that I realized that Browne was the same girl who was in Sting. Thus far, Browne is two for two for movies this year. She might be one to keep an eye out for.

The Beginning of the End

Furiosa begins with the title character being kidnapped from her home, the Green Place, by the minions of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Dementus is a warlord with a nihilistic personality, high pain tolerance, loves the sound of his own voice, forces the members of a previous group to kill each other to join his, and is as funny as he is scary. So, if you’ve ever wondered what the Joker would look like in the world of Mad Max, here you go.

One of the things that I liked about Fury Road is that the damsels in distress didn’t just stand back and wait for Max and Furiosa to fix everything. They helped out and proved to be useful in several instances. This movie continues that trend by having a young Furiosa do everything in her power to either escape or assist her rescuer.

Said rescuer is Furiosa’s mother, Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser), who’s in the movie just long enough for you to care when she dies. After her failed rescue, Furiosa spends many years as Dementus’ prisoner. Then they make the acquaintance of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), the god-emperor played by Hugh Keays-Byrne back in Fury Road.

The Citadel

Furiosa answers the question as to how someone as beautiful as Theron, or Taylor-Joy for that matter, was able to escape becoming one of Joe’s “Wives.” She was going to be one, but she escaped and hid among the lower castes of the Citadel, his main outpost, as a mute boy, learning several valuable skills that will serve her well in the future.

During this time, Furiosa meets Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), who’s highly similar to Max but with several key differences. Jack willingly takes Furiosa on as an apprentice, plans to go with her to the Green Place, and develops a romance with her. Max is defined by being a loner, always choosing to continue being a wanderer even when the chance for peace presents itself, and his relationship with Furiosa never goes beyond being platonic.

At the same time, Dementus manages to become the leader of Gas Town, one of the three outposts that Joe controls, until even that isn’t enough for him. A large part of Furiosa is the battle between two extremely bad men. It is debatable which of them is ultimately worse, though the two provide several interesting contrasts with each other.

The Warlords

Joe and Dementus seek to bring order to the wastelands, command a large group of followers, and strive to turn Furiosa into their pet. While Joe wants a wife to sire an heir, Dementus wants a daughter to replace the one he lost.  Dementus’ past as someone who lost their family gives him a level of sympathy that Joe doesn’t receive, even if it doesn’t excuse his actions.

Another difference between the two is their ruling styles. Furiosia demonstrates that when not enraged over the loss of his “treasure,” Joe is a pragmatist. Hence how he was able to carve out a kingdom of three different outposts that he kept running relatively smoothly. Dementus, on the other hand, drives his fiefdom into the ground. By the end of the film, Dementus is left with nothing, while Joe still has a sizable army during the final battle of Fury Road.

Another way they differ is in self-awareness. Joe is implied to think of himself as a tough, but fair ruler. Back in Fury Road, he repeatedly demands to know where Furiosa is “taking” his Wives, even after being told point blank that they begged Furiosa to rescue them. Dementus, meanwhile, explicitly calls himself evil, making it clear that he knows he’s a monster. Therefore implying that all his lofty talk for the future was just to sway people to his side.

The End of the Beginning

Fury Road was 120 minutes of high-octane action, with rich character moments mixed in. Furiosa moves at a much slower pace. The first “road war” doesn’t happen until about midway through the movie. The final battle, if you could even call it that, is more an extended conversation intermixed with Furiosa beating Dementus, not that he minds too much.

The ending confrontation between the two of them might be my favorite scene in the movie. Hemsworth and Taylor-Joy give such a great performances during the scene. Also, what Dementus says, how Furiosa’s revenge isn’t going to give her the catharsis she craves and that she’s inching dangerously close to being just like him, isn’t without merit. 

I always think it’s interesting when the villain actually makes a valid point. Even Furiosa seems to realize that he’s right. She still takes her revenge, which Dementus totally deserves,  but his words are implied to be part of Furiosa’s impetus for seeking “redemption.” Hence her liberation of  Joe’s Wives, thus setting in motion all the events of Fury Road. Isn’t that funny?

In Conclusion

I remember watching Fury Road after it first came out and not liking it. In preparation for viewing Fuirosa, I rewatched it and was left saying, “Oh my god, this movie’s awesome.” As such, my hopes for Furiosa were newly high, and the movie does not disappoint. Like its predecessor, it’s a visual marvel full of great performances.

Is it better than Fury Road? That comes down to a person’s tastes. The two movies have very different tones. However, I will say that watching both films back to back would make for a hell of a double feature. Just try to ignore Furiosa’s end credits, which spoil several moments from Fury Road. At least I warn people before giving away every plot twist.