Prequels are always difficult. Obviously, when it comes to a movie filled with violence and death, there are certain characters who you know are gonna make it to the end, and that there are some obligatory scenes coming up. It's rarely done well.
Above all else, when the prequel is following a great movie, which Fury Road was, there's always a looming question about whether or not the prequel is a movie that we need, or even want.
Well, I was going to see Furiosa no matter what. I've seen and enjoyed every Mad Max movie. I love George Miller as a filmmaker. I adore Anya Taylor-Joy. Nonetheless, this was not a movie that I needed. I was on the fence about wanting it.
Still, the mark of the entrepreneurial mind isn't to give people what they want, but to give people what they didn't even know they wanted.
Furiosa is a good movie. The cast is stacked. Chris Hemsworth has been getting a lot of media attention for his work, which is well deserved.
The action sequences and set pieces weren't as impressive as Fury Road. That might have been a good choice by the filmmakers. It's hard to outdo Fury Road.
What I was expecting from Furiosa, especially given that the runtime is thirty minutes longer than Fury Road, was a movie that not only explained a few elements of Fury Road, and how Furiosa got where she was, but also a more character driven movie. In an odd way, I think that Fury Road was at least on par with Furiosa in character development. Fury Road managed to be more efficient.
Furiosa is a welcome addition to the Mad Max universe. I have my gripes. It's not as good as Fury Road; but, that's a remarkably high bar.