Movie Review

Anya Taylor-Joy brings the fury in summer flick Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Photo by Jasin Boland

When Mad Max: Fury Road came out in 2015, it became one of the biggest successes of that year for a variety of reasons, most notably for its stunts and cinematography. It also included several indelible new characters, chief among them being Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), a woman with a mechanical arm who betrays the film’s villain, Immortan Joe, and goes on the run with Max and a group of female prisoners.

Writer/director George Miller clearly became enamored with that character, too, as he’s now based a prequel film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, around her origin story. Played as a young adult by Anya Taylor-Joy, the film actually begins in her childhood when Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is kidnapped by Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and his gang, who are living on the margins of the wasteland society, seeking resources wherever and however they can find them.

This leads to run-ins with Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who rules over The Citadel, a rare oasis in the desert. Furiosa herself becomes a commodity to be traded between the two groups, with her scrappiness and inventiveness proving to be an asset on many occasions. Still hoping to make it back to her home, which she dubs “The Green Place,” Furiosa spends years planning her escape while fighting for survival alongside all the other desert dwellers.

Co-written by Fury Road co-writer Nick Lathouris, the film is broken up into five chapters, each of which last for roughly 30-40 minutes. It tracks Furiosa’s progression as she adapts to her new life, with each step demonstrating what a fierce fighter she is. No matter what obstacle is put in front of her – and there are plenty of them – Furiosa finds a way to show that she is no mere weakling that others can use as they will. Both Taylor-Joy and Browne give performances that prove to be worthy of the legacy that Theron started.

While her story is relatively clear-cut, it might take a second viewing to suss out what’s happening with everyone else. Dr. Dementus makes for great new character, but his exact goals – other than domination of this particular world – aren’t well-defined. The domain of Immortan Joe – aided by his ridiculously-named sons Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones) and Scrotus (Josh Helman), as well as his pale army of War Boys – remains distinctive from the first film, but that has the unfortunate side effect of not seeming as original the second time around.

Also suffering by comparison are the film’s chase/action scenes. The last film wowed with its spectacular set-pieces that had stunt actors flying all over the place, and while Furiosa contains its fair share of similar scenes, they either feel like retreads or just not as impressive. There’s no real way to quantify it, but the use of CGI to accomplish certain stunts seems to have been increased significantly, taking away from the sequences’ eye-popping nature. The best part of the scenes is the endlessly inventive vehicles the characters use to travel around the landscape.

Taylor-Joy is not quite the presence that Theron is, but she brings her own take to the role. Her most notable feature – her large eyes – are highlighted often while her face is otherwise covered, and her expressiveness with them speaks volumes even when her character doesn’t talk as much. Hemsworth – with the aid of a prosthetic nose – is the revelation of the film, shedding the persona of Thor from the MCU films to become a legitimately frightening villain.

Even if the film doesn’t have the surprise factor that Fury Road did, Furiosa still manages to be sufficiently entertaining for a summer blockbuster, mostly thanks to its compelling characters. The stakes may not be fully understandable, but the action and humor that Miller provides is more than enough to forgive any storytelling woes.

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga opens in theaters on May 24.

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Movie Review

Feuding couple fights for survival in dark comedy Over Your Dead Body

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

Jason Segel and Samara Weaving on Over Your Dead Body.

When dysfunctional couples are depicted in movies, about the worst that typically happens is an acrimonious divorce. But in the new comedy/thriller Over Your Dead Body, the husband-and-wife have already gone way past that point by the time they’re introduced to the audience, with their plans leaning toward murder.

Dan (Jason Segel) is a low-level filmmaker relegated to directing pop-up ads, while Lisa (Samara Weaving) is an actor making do in small theater productions. The film finds them heading toward a rare getaway to a remote lake cabin, but it’s clear from the start that the married couple has been at odds for months, if not years. As the film begins, Dan clumsily drops hints at an alibi for his planned murder of Lisa to his ailing dad (Paul Guilfoyle) and others.

His shoddy planning was already sussed out by Lisa, who turns the tables on him when he tries to attack her, revealing a plan of her own. The situation naturally heightens their shared enmity of each other, but their blind hatred turns out to reveal the presence of Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Todd (Keith Jardine), two escapees from a nearby prison who were helped by guard Allegra (Juliette Lewis). What was once a shared murder plan turns into a fight for survival, forcing Dan and Lisa to work together.

Directed by Jorma Taccone (The Lonely Island) and written by former SNL writers Nick Kocher and Briand McElhaney, the film aims to mine comedy out of darkness. Dan and Lisa’s ire for each other is palpable, and their interactions early in the film are uncomfortable. As the film turns increasingly violent with the introduction of other unsavory characters, most of the humor is derived from the creative ways people are attacked and the ultraviolence that results from them going after each other.

It’s a little tough to get fully invested in the story when the filmmakers throw the audience directly into the plot with almost zero setup. There’s not even a cursory montage of Dan and Lisa being in love, so it’s hard to care a lot about their current hate for each other. Likewise, the presence of the prison guard and escapees is completely random, and the three of them aren’t utilized well in the story despite having a couple of well-known actors portraying them.

The saving grace of the film, though, is the twists and turns it takes in the final act. Everyone on screen is put through the wringer, with each of them suffering multiple injuries or worse. The mayhem becomes so chaotic that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going to happen next, which slightly makes up for the fact that the story as a whole is lackluster. Even though the audience knows they’re being manipulated, the sequences are entertaining enough to overcome that fact.

The cast as a whole is solid. Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Shrinking) uses his comic sensibility to keep the proceedings light. Weaving (Ready or Not) has done multiple movies in this vein, so she knows how to navigate the comedy/thriller waters. Olyphant feels a little out of place, but he has a presence that elevates his part. Lewis goes a little too manic in her part, and Jardine ably embodies the dumb brute.

The comedy history of Taccone, Segel, and Weaving keeps Over Your Dead Body as a positive experience even when the story doesn’t quite measure up. The film never becomes fully predictable, giving the audience a great dose of pandemonium that lifts it up despite its other faults.

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Over Your Dead Body is now playing in theaters.

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