The first reactions are here for George Miller’s latest venture into the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The embargo broke for social media reactions to Furiosa, the eagerly anticipated prequel to the 2015 stunner Mad Max: Fury Road.
This new entry has Anya Taylor-Joy as Imperator Furiosa (taking over for Charlize Theron) and Chris Hemsworth as a devious warlord in a story that takes place 15 years before the previous film.
Early social reactions can sometimes be a bit different (typically more enthusiastic) than official critic reviews, and surely there are many more to come soon. But based on the first batch Monday evening, Furisoa is a visual stunner with “ferocious, wild and unrelenting” action and a story that “spans decades,” with strong performances from the two leads.
Those who compare the film to Fury Road, however, did so with a bit of qualification. Furisoa is in “a different gear” and “won’t match Fury Road’s splendor” in a way that “might frustrate” some audiences. One critic said Furiosa felt more like the first two Mad Max films (which is funny, because when Fury Road was released, some initially griped that the film wasn’t enough like the first two Mad Max films).
Different than is not necessarily bad, however, and this might be a case of viewers having a tough time shaking off their expectations going into the theater (the Furiosa trailers, after all, sell the new film as being rather exactly like Fury Road). In any case, many consider Fury Road one of the best action films ever made — certainly one of the best this century — so any comparison, even one where Furiosa comes up a notch or two short, is still complimentary.
Check out some of the first reactions below. Furiosa opens in theaters May 24.
