CANNES 2024 - remote notes

[Chris Knipp]

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (George Miller 2024)


SCENE FROM GEORGE MILLER'S FURIOSA

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA,World premiered out of competition at Cannes, has gotten generally positive reviews. Somebody wrote it's the best prequel ever. Peter Bradshaw gave it 4 our of 5 stars in his GUARDIAN review and calls it "immersive, spectacular." But David Rooney apologizing for being a grump in Hollywood Reporter says it's " a big step down from Mad Max: Fury Road.". Rooney says: "this fifth installment in the dystopian saga grinds on in fits and starts, with little tension or fluidity in a narrative whose shapelessness is heightened by its pretentious chapter structure." He acknowledges that "Anya Taylor-Joy is a fierce presence in the title role" (as Charlize Theron's character young) and that Chris Hemsworth is "clearly having fun as a gonzo Wasteland warlord" (the comic-evil Dr. Dementus), but he thinks that "the mythmaking lacks muscle," and similarly "the action mostly lacks the visual poetry of its predecessor." Though recognizing some viewers finds the new motorcycle nightmare too digressive, Xian Brooks of the GUARDIAN "really liked it."

Metacritic's review aggregator, based on 24 critics, has come up with a score of 82%, so there is probably not that big a falling off, but there is some, because FURY ROAD got a Metaceritic rating of 90%.

A TRAILER is being shown in theaters and you can find out for yourself soon, starting next Thursday, May 23, if you are a fan of the "Mad Max" movies.