Has there ever been a filmmaker who has enjoyed being defined by as wildly disparate a set of projects as George Miller? When all is said and done, his legacy is essentially going to consist of dancing penguins and violent apocalyptic wastelands with a few additional projects peppered in between – and yet, it seems to be a perfectly exciting way to describe one of the most unorthodox and daring careers in the history of cinema. His crowning achievement will always be the Mad Max series, one that not only kickstarted his filmmaking career but guided it over the years. After a thirty-year break following the conclusion of the original trilogy, he revived the series and brought it into the 21st century with Mad Max: Fury Road, which is popularly cited as the greatest action film ever made, an assessment that is certainly difficult to argue against. Nearly a decade later, we once again are guided into this arid, desolate landscape for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in which Miller provides the origin story of the secondary protagonist of the previous film, following her childhood and early adulthood, particularly her growth from innocent hostage to one of the most feared warriors in this wasteland, a journey filled with violence and terror the likes of which we simply cannot comprehend. Miller once again proves that absolutely nothing he does will ever be as brilliant and inventive as these films, with their sheer ambition and desire to deconstruct the very fabric of both narrative structure and philosophical theory is the foundation for a truly inventive, off-the-wall odyssey that feels like it is genuinely contributing something unprecedented to the artistic discourse, a quality that we often find when looking at Miller’s work as a whole. Furiosa is yet another magnificent achievement from one of the most engaging and brilliantly inventive directors of his generation, an addition to his extraordinary canon of work that is both daring and provocative and a film that dismantles reality in a manner that is both unsettling and profoundly compelling, signalling that the masterful control of his craft not only remains as ironclad as it was when he first conceived of this series, but is perhaps even more exciting based on his willingness to take major risks that prove to have exceptional results, both narratively and visually.

Multiple qualities of Miller’s work prove him to be one of the most inventive and daring directors of his generation, and he tends to make each of his films different, even if they are related to one another. Every one of the entries into the Mad Max series is bespoke and highly original, which means that venturing into one of these films is sure to produce a very different kind of experience in every instance, and therefore we never quite know what to expect and anticipating the various twists and turns is nothing short of a fool’s errand. He is not one to rest on his laurels, and instead actively seeks out new techniques to tell these stories, producing daring and captivating content that is bold and well-constructed, as well as unique in its perspective. Each film builds onto the other, which continues with Furiosa and its efforts to expand on the world that Miller first introduced to us nearly half a century ago, and still finds ways to surprise the audience with the depth of his storytelling. This film serves dual purposes – it is primarily an original story of one of the most memorable characters from the series, as well as being an effort to strengthen the mythology of this universe, which may seem to take place in the most arid and bleak landscape, but yet still contains layers that have yet to be explored. There are some details present in this film that were planted in Mad Max and only begin to sprout with this film, which proves how much Miller adheres to the concept of continuity in a way that allows these films to exist in dialogue with each other, rather than being entirely consistent in how they approach very different ideas. There is an authenticity to this approach that the director prioritizes, and it often seems like he is most eager to continue exploring this world that has been so carefully curated over the decades. There is nothing quite as compelling as a filmmaker who approaches his work (especially one that has been as well-established as this series) with a consistent sense of curiosity and the willingness to even dismantle his ideologies and intentions in favour of creating a memorable narrative that refuses to retread the same material and instead leaps into the unknown in a manner that is both daring and provocative in equal measure.

One of the most memorable aspects of Mad Max: Fury Road was the presence of Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, who immediately ascended to the status as one of the most unforgettable action heroes in the history of cinema, on par with many of the iconic figures that have been ratified into the culture. The film presents her origin story, and to bring this to life, Miller (deciding against de-ageing technology, a wise choice considering how the industry hasn’t quite managed to master the technique just yet, with a lot of work still needing to be done before it can be considered anything more than experimental) chooses to cast the role with two younger actors that play the juvenile and early-adulthood version of the character, counterparts that are not directly aligned with Theron in terms of their function in the story, but still draw a lot of inspiration from her exceptional performance. NAME occupies the first act, playing the youngest version of the characters, whereas Anya Taylor-Joy takes the lion’s share of attention once she is introduced as the main interpretation of the part. Unlike many young actors, Taylor-Joy has consistently resisted taking on roles that would become definitive of her career, which has allowed her to not only avoid being typecast but also prevented the usual trend of associating particular actors with a specific character, creating archetypal shackles from which escape is often impossible. Her performance in Furiosa is exceptional – her greatest asset is her incredibly striking expressivity, with her penetrating stare and ability to convey every emotion without saying a word being most well-utilized in this film. It’s not going to be the film for which she is most remembered (by her efforts to maintain a versatile, varied career), but is certainly all the proof we need that Taylor-Joy is an actor who will define the current generation of young actors. She’s joined by a supporting cast that is mainly notable for the presence of Chris Hemsworth in perhaps his best performance to date, taking on the over-the-top, eccentric villain who is not afraid to chew the scenery, knowing that there isn’t any possibility of doing too much in a film essentially defined by the practice of stretching logic as far as it can go. Tom Burke has a smaller but still quite very convincing performance as Praetorian Jack, one of the few genuinely good characters found throughout this film, and Burke’s stoicism is perfectly assimilated into the characters, whose level-headed, logical approach stands out as quite notable in a world in which rational thought simply does not exist. A range of excellent character actors from Australia populate the rest of the supporting cast, as was also the case with previous films, creating a very bold and complex ensemble that is brilliantly led by Taylor-Joy, whose work here is remarkable and anchors this otherwise unwieldy and impossibly ambitious film.

Another very strong quality we find embedded in Miller’s work and which is perfectly exemplified by Furiosa is his unique approach to directing his films – he is truly a remarkable visual stylist, and there’s something about the world he created here that makes the Mad Max series impenetrably brilliant from conception to execution, every step being perfectly-curated by a director whose attention to detail is beyond remarkable. Nestled right at the core of Furiosa is an extraordinarily well-directed film – it contains perhaps the largest scope of any of these films, and it shows in the visual landscape that the director adopts, making sure that absolutely every component was operating at the peaks of its capabilities. He once again enlists a terrific group of artists to bring this story to life, guiding us into this chaotic and terrifying apocalyptic landscape that is striking in its desolation and bleakness, something that can only be achieved through working with a range of masters of their craft. Equal emphasis is placed on each department – the cinematography captures the unforgettable set design and costumes helmed by Colin Gibson and Jenny Beavan respectively, whereas the editing (done by Miller’s personal and professional partner Margaret Sixel in collaboration with Eliot Knapman) allows the film, which borders at 150 minutes, to feel like a rapidly-paced fever dream, instilling the sense of controlled chaos that Miller is intent on using as the foundation of this narrative. The film contains many more effects than previous films in the series, which is only logical considering the technology available, but Miller never allows the film to descend into being just a bundle of artificially generated images, preferring to instead maintain a more elegant approach, using it as a tool to supplement rather than define the film. The pulsating score by Tom Holkenborg (otherwise known as Junkie XL) creates a tense and unsettling atmosphere, and coupled with the incredible sound effects creates a harsh but impactful aural landscape. Piece-by-piece, Furiosa is a true feast for the senses – its not always pleasant in the way that we would hope, but these films have never strived to be particularly endearing, and instead it lives up to the standard of being a mile-a-minute, action epic in the sense of immersing us in the sheer chaos that envelopes this story, taking us on a truly wild journey into an apocalyptic future, one that is far more disconcerting than many other similarly-themed stories, particularly for how it dares to approach the central themes boldly and uncompromisingly.

As wildly entertaining and extraordinarily bold as the design and structure of Furiosa may be, much like the four previous films that laid the foundation, looking at it as merely a technical or creative achievement is only engaging with a portion of its brilliance. The difference between this film and the many other action thrillers released every year is that it is built on a much more solid set of ideas that have their roots in deeper parts of the cultural discourse. Furiosa is a film in which we encounter the darkest and most insidious side of humanity, which is perfectly summarized in the final conflict between the Furiosa and Dementus, where he claims that her resilience and ability to survive is not built from hope, but rather from hatred. This film doesn’t take place in a world that is falling apart or struggling to survive, but rather one that has become so damaged and corrupted, that it is beyond salvation. There isn’t any hope of rebuilding in this universe, and the cynicism of Furiosa is perfectly encapsulated by its profoundly bleak tone that has its roots in a kind of absurd nihilism, which has steadily been developed by Miller throughout these five films. It’s undeniable that this is the most sinister voyage into this world and one where Miller is working through some of the most complex themes. It is a combination of a classical epic in the tradition of the Ancient Greeks, combined with the harrowing tragedy of William Shakespeare, where the dramatics are not there simply for the sake of entertainment, but also to instil a sense of dread and despair in the viewer as we witness this haunting version of humanity, one that is not too far removed from reality in terms of the underlying philosophies that propel the story forward. Miller uses this as an opportunity to not only work through his artistic curiosities, which are inextricably linked to his own experiences in the medical field witnessing the enormous number of road fatalities (which essentially served as the impetus for Mad Max over forty years ago), as well as developing some new themes, particularly leaning towards femininity (which had been present in Mad Max: Fury Road, but ultimately proved to be quite secondary to the overall plot) as well as conversations around the decline of society. The empire has fallen and is beyond recovery, and through Miller’s careful construction of this narrative, he creates a film so bold in its vision, that we find ourselves entirely transfixed by his unique and daring perspective.

Furiosa is a high-octane, tense and paranoid action thriller that is as terrifying as it is awe-inspiring, with the fear and exhilaration we feel existing in tandem as we experience this astonishing world into which Miller plunges the viewer, holding us hostage as we witness this off-the-wall, deranged masterpiece that somehow dares to be even more ambitious and layered than the previous entries into the genre, as well as being perhaps the most abstract of the entire series in terms of both the underlying themes and their journey towards realization. Both visually and narratively, this film is an immense achievement – it focuses on the sheer absurdism of the apocalypse, and Miller deserves credit for staying true to his vision that the end of the world will not be the most logical or sombre affair – it will be an anarchic, violent and illogical existence in which nothing makes sense, and humanity returns to an almost primitive, animalistic state, something that has always been brilliantly represented in this series of films, but which is most prominent in these two recent entries that amplify the nihilistic surrealism to the point of being almost uncomfortable, in an oddly entertaining way. Tonally, the film is equally as strange – it has bundles of dark humour that makes it perhaps the funniest of the entire franchise, with the eccentricities being quite prominent, enough to guide the narrative and showcase Miller’s sardonic, harsh sense of humour that is often overlooked when discussing these films – but this is contrasted by the harrowing, terrifying sense of despair that is equally as integral to the identity of the film, which creates a multilayered production that is singularly impossible to categorize, which seems to be the entire purpose of these films and how they occupy such a bizarre corner of the genre that is both defined and deconstructed over time. Brilliantly, and featuring some of the most impressive visual and aural compositions of the current era (which is by no means hyperbolic – it is genuinely that well-crafted), Furiosa is a film brimming with ambition and complex ideas, and Miller’s ingenuity has never been more well-represented than it is here, his mastery of his craft being exceptionally clear and more than sufficient in understanding the philosophical roots of these stories, as well as their penchant for the most off-the-wall kind of chaos. Brilliant and subversive, Furiosa is yet another thrilling, engaging odyssey into the apocalypse, handcrafted by a true master of cinema, and someone whose vision is exciting and sprawling enough to enthral even the most cynical of viewers.