4K Blu-ray Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Synopsis: As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home

Main Features: "Furiosa" is different from "Fury Road." And that is both good and bad. First the good: it allows director George Miller to continue his style in exploring boundaries beyond standard traditional fare, including stuff he's already done; it's almost like he takes tracing paper and lays it over what he just drew, but instead of following the outline to create an exact copy, he adds her tangents and shapes and colors. Now, the bad: with this altered "Fury Road" Xerox copy, it loses the kinetic energy in the script, performances and action scenes from it's predecessor. Don't get me wrong--it's a fantastic piece of artistry the filmmaker clearly uses as a way to challenge himself. But the excitement "Fury Road" created does not happen with "Furiosa." Chris Hemsworth is having a blast as Dementus, and Anya Taylor-Joy does an admirable job as the titular character considering the high bar Charlize Theron set in "Fury Road." The action scenes are too digital, though, taking the excitement (mostly out of sheer danger) away from "Furiosa" as opposed to the mostly real-time stunts in "Fury Road." I sense that was the studio's new ownership drawing a line in the sand for Miller, but that's a challenge in and of itself--a specific type of test that Miller is all too familiar with. 

Bonus Features: Extras include the standard digital code that claims a 4K UHD copy. What the bonuses lack in quantity makes up for in quality. Extensive looks into what would've been a comparable hit to "Fury Road" include covering Hemsworth and Taylor-Joy playing their respective characters and the journey to get this made after the acclaimed success of "Fury Road." Plus, looks into the opening escape action scene and the car chases round out the very good extras.

Final Call: "Furiosa" may have been a step down from the previous stop on the "Mad Max" journey, but it has looks that show life in the post-apocalyptic landscape of George Miller's mind.

Grade: B+