Quick Links
George Miller delivered one of the best, if not the best, entries into theMad Maxfranchise withMad Max: Fury Road. Unlike the previous films, this one focused on two heroes and created one that fans wanted more of after the credits rolled. Thus, George Miller went out and madeFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga. It’s a prequel that promises to show fans how she became the Imperator fans know her as inFury Road.
Mad Max: Fury Road,on the surface, appears to be a classic shoot ‘em up adventure movie, but it was so much more than that.Fury Roadgripped audiences and surprised critics with its brilliant action scenes andsubtle underlying messages. It was especially surprising since the original star of the franchise was nowhere to be seen; instead, Tom Hardy took up the titular role. WithFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagaright around the corner, it’s time to revisit the barren wastes of George Miller’s world and get a refresher on its events.
Fury Roadfollows two protagonists, as opposed to the franchise’s traditional main character. As with the priorMad Maxmovies,Fury Roadstarts with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy). However, it eventually introduces the franchise’s new character worth following: Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron). Furiosa works for atyrant named Immortan Joe(Hugh Keays-Byrne), and has for quite some time.
Fury Roadstarts with Max’s capture by the War Boys, who drag him back to the tyrannical state of the Citadel to be a blood donor for their people thanks to his universal blood type. Immortan Joe rules the Citadel with an iron fist. His followers see him as a prophet, even though he constantly withholds water and other necessities from them.
Immortan Joe tasks Furiosa with driving a truck to trade for fuel and bullets, which are essential items in this post-apocalyptic world. However, she has other plans. Within the rig she’s driving,Furiosa stowed away five of Joe’s wives— one of whom is pregnant — to free them from the torture and abuse that Joe inflicts upon them.Max and the War Boy, Nux (Nicholas Hoult), who was using him as a blood bag for transfusion, join Furiosa and the women on their journey for freedom. However, Immortan Joe isn’t going to let them go without a price.
Who is Furiosa?
When the audience meets Furiosa, they know her as atruck driver for Immortan Joe, who all the War Boys follow. They even call her boss. Before she came to work for such a tyrant, she was raised in a place called the Green Place by a group known as the Vuvalini, a.k.a. the Many Mothers. She was kidnapped 7,000 days, or 20 years, before theevents ofFury Road,when she became one of Immortan Joe’s wives.
However, when he discovered she couldn’t produce children, Immortan Joe didn’t want her as a wife. He gave her to the Imperator of a War Rig, who taught her everything she knew inFury Road. Eventually, the Imperator died, making Furiosa the only female soldier in Immortan Joe’s army, earning the rank of Imperator herself. For a short time, Furiosa was the protector of the five wives, which is what prompted her to sneak them out of the Citadel and take them with her to the Green Place.
Furiosa aimed to bring the womento a place where she grew up before Immortan Joe kidnapped her. Unfortunately, by the time they arrive, the Green Place is nothing like Furiosa remembers. Its inhabitants, the Vuvalini, have dwindled in numbers over the years. It’s not a place where any society can prosper anymore. This leaves Furiosa, Max, and the wives one last option to choose.
The group opts to return to the Citadel, since Immortan Joe sent the bulk of his forces after Furiosa and the rest, leaving the place defenseless. They suffer a few casualties on the way back, including Nux, who sacrifices himself. Immortan Joe, however, manages to retrieve one of his wives. This infuriates Furiosa, leading her to finally kill the tyrant. The group, including the last members of the Vuvalini, liberate the Citadel and take their place within the palace as its new leaders.
Each of theheroes inFury Roadis a character who was stripped of their autonomy. The audience first sees this with Max, who is kidnapped at the beginning and reduced to a mere “blood bag” for the War Boys. Then they see how oppressive Immortan Joe’s society is with his hoarding of their water supply. Immortan Joe has women hooked up to nursing machines, and he keeps his five wives in a vault. Sure, it’s a nice large space inside, but they’re locked behind a bank vault door. It isn’t until thefinale that everyone regains their personhood,taking their autonomy back from the one who stole it.
