road movie review in tamil

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The Road review: Director Arun Vaseegaran’s latest is a riveting thriller

The film maintains its intense pace with excellent narration, full marks to the director for his gripping story.

Published:Oct 07, 2023

Trisha in 'The Road'. (X)

A gripping watch!

The Road (Tamil)

• Cast: Trisha, Miya George, 'Dancing Rose' Shabeer, Santhosh Prathap, MS Bhaskar, Vela Ramamoorthy and Vivek Prasanna
• Director: Arun Vaseegaran
• Producers: Jai Sampath and Subramani Doss
• Music: Sam CS
• Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes
• Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi, and Revathy
• Director: Maneesh Sharma
• Producer: Aditya Chopra
• Music: Pritam Chakraborty
• Runtime: 2 hours 35 minutes

Director Arun Vaseegaran comes up with an investigative thriller — The Road — that keeps you entertained for the most part.

The film is intense and engaging, thanks to a refreshingly fresh plot that has two parallel sets of developments happening in two different parts of the state.

An immensely content woman, Meera (Trisha) is thrilled to know that she is pregnant with her second child. However, she is also slightly disappointed that the pregnancy will not allow her to undertake a road trip that she promised her young school-going son Kavin, for his birthday.

A poster of the film ‘The Road’. (X)

Unwilling to disappoint her son, she lets her husband Anand (Santhosh Prathap) take her son on the trip.

Both father and son set off on the trip, intending to return in a couple of days.

However, fate delivers a cruel blow. A car heading on the opposite side of the highway loses control and swerves around to cut the median and crash into Anand’s car, killing them both.

Meera is shattered by the news of their deaths. She rushes to the spot and suffers a shock, resulting in an abortion.

Eventually, when Meera goes to the spot of the accident to pay homage to her son and husband, she becomes aware that the crash which killed her husband and son could not be merely dismissed as an accident and that it may well have been orchestrated.

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A parallel story.

In another part of the state, Maya (Shabeer Kallarakkal), a professor at an arts and science college, is immensely respected for his professionalism and hugely admired by his women students for his physical attributes. One girl in particular looks to propose to him.

A dedicated teacher with strong moral and ethical values, Maya turns down the proposal. Enraged at having been rejected, she levels a MeToo allegation against him, saying that the professor sought sexual favours from her.

The false allegation ruins Maya’s life. He is humiliated and thrown out of the college.

Even after that, the humiliation continues with villagers targetting not just him but also his father who has been slogging all his life to get his son educated.

At one point, both Maya and Meera’s lives converge. What happens then is what the film is all about.

#TheRoad An exclusive #bts teaser. Thank you🫶🏻 pic.twitter.com/JeDnNSCnh5 — Trish (@trishtrashers) May 5, 2023

Also Read: ‘Chaaver’ is elevated by Kunchacko Boban’s career-best performance and technical brilliance

Shabeer kallarakkal steals the show.

The Road gets off to a blistering start with a couple that is stranded on the highway being murdered by dacoits. Right from that point on, the movie maintains its intense pace with some excellent narration by the director.

Trisha and ‘Dancing Rose’ Shabeer in ‘The Road’. (X)

Full marks to Arun Vaseegaran for his intense and gripping story that keeps you on the edge of your seats. The story’s intensity goes up one more notch once Meera begins investigating the accident.

Trisha, as Meera, does a decent job in the film.

Shabeer Kallarakkal, who received widespread praise for his portrayal of the character Dancing Rose in Sarpatta Parambarai (2021), steals the limelight in the film with yet another powerful performance.

Shabeer’s portrayal of Maya makes a profound impact on you. Maya’s struggle to come to terms with the cruel blow that eventually results in his father hanging himself makes you feel for his character. In fact, that is exactly what makes the film work.

Sam CS’s background score is perfect and KG Venkatesh’s visuals are striking.

Except for editor Shivaraj, who could have been a little more unforgiving while trimming the climax, The Road has a sound technical team that has delivered a neat product.

The Road has very few flaws, other than the fact that its climax is unnecessarily long. Apart from that, the film is an intense and gripping thriller that is definitely worth your time and money.

(Views expressed here are personal.)

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'The Road' review: Trisha starrer shows promise but stumbles on its journey

Trisha, preparing for a mass entertainer alongside Thalapathy Vijay in 'Leo,' returns with another female-centric film titled 'The Road', directed by Arun Vaseegaran. Following the disappointing reception of her previous movie 'Raangi,' in which she starred alongside Anaswara Rajan, anticipations for 'The Road' may not have been high. However, contrary to the low expectations, the film delivers a strong and satisfying thriller.

The film begins with a couple being involved in a carefully planned accident on the National Highway, setting the stage for two intertwining narratives. The first story follows Meera (Trisha), a pregnant woman living with her husband and son. Tragedy strikes when the husband and son become victims of one of these orchestrated accidents, turning Meera's life upside down.

The second story revolves around Maya (Shabeer Kallarakkal), a college professor known for his honesty and hard work. His life takes a downward spiral following an incident at the college. The movie explores how these two stories converge and reveals the masterminds behind these horrific accidents.

Trisha thanks fans for applauding her performance in ‘The Road’

After Mansoor Ali Khan issues apology, Trisha responds

The film primarily centres on the process of uncovering the culprits and the events that lead up to it. However, it occasionally loses momentum as it relies on a somewhat generic formula. Nevertheless, the skilful execution of blending the two storylines stands out as one of the movie's significant strengths. Viewers may or may not anticipate the outcome, but it undeniably constitutes a major triumph for the film. Shabeer Kallarakkal truly serves as the movie's backbone, effectively compensating for its weaker aspects. His storyline is more compelling and heart-wrenching compared to Trisha's, despite both stories being tragedies. However, the film does have its share of illogical moments scattered throughout. For instance, Trisha's character, Meera, suddenly takes on a nearly detective-like role and effortlessly confronts villains, which, while it could be attributed to her personal trauma, at times feels excessively exaggerated.

Trisha delivers a decent performance as Meera, effectively portraying a character who is grappling with a tragedy. Miya George, who plays Meera's supportive friend, also deserves commendation for her role.

As the second half unfolds, viewers can almost anticipate the direction the plot heads for if they connect the dots before the movie explicitly does so. Up until that point, the film maintains a gripping narrative. Interestingly, the movie manages to evoke some sympathy for its antagonist, a testament to Arun Vaseegaran's attempt at a unique storytelling approach. While this approach works to a certain extent, it doesn't reach outstanding or mind-bending levels.

The movie's climax disappoints as it veers into extreme clichés. Had the filmmakers opted for a more unique approach, the movie could have become an above-average thriller. Unfortunately, its reliance on clichés detracts the movie from that potential. Nevertheless, the film deserves recognition for its attempt to introduce a fresh concept, intertwining two parallel narratives and merging them into a coherent storyline. Initially, as viewers follow both stories, they may wonder how they are connected, but the movie manages to execute this connection effectively. While it may not be a must-watch, it is likely to be a delightful experience for fans of Trisha.

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Home » Movies » ‘The Road’ Tamil Movie Review

‘The Road’ Tamil Movie Review

The Tamil thriller ‘The Road’ has a massive buzz as it’s full of suspense and excitement! The movie stars Trisha Krishnan and Shabeer Kallarakkal, and it’s directed by Arun Vaseegaran. Let’s dive into what makes this movie interesting!

The Road is about a journalist named Meera, played by Trisha. She has a happy life until something very sad happens: her husband and son are in a terrible car accident. Meera finds out that this wasn’t just a regular accident but part of something much bigger and scarier. She decides to find out the truth and get justice for her family.

The wrecked vehicle and the twisted body on the road served as a grim reminder of the recent accident. Amidst the wreckage, a lone witness stood, her gaze capturing the eerie scene. Despite her earnest report to the police, they brushed her off as an overreactive complainant. Unwavering, she committed herself to uncovering the truth of this mystery. As the only eyewitness, she was determined to seek justice for the accident’s victims.

This was no tale of supernatural occurrences or accidental tragedies, but rather a story of a brutal gang hidden in the depths of an inescapable forest, mercilessly taking lives. Our protagonist, caught in this treacherous forest with these ruthless criminals, had to find a way to escape their grip and reveal their evil deeds to the world.

The film, inspired by actual events, chronicles the courageous journey of a woman through a land marked by violence. Filmed on the very locations where these events unfolded, the movie promises to deliver a raw and captivating narrative.

There’s also another story in the movie about a college professor named Maya, played by Shabeer Kallarakkal. He gets into trouble because of a student who lies about him. His story and Meera’s story come together in a surprising way!

What’s Special About the Movie?

• Exciting Plot : The movie keeps you guessing what will happen next. It’s like a puzzle that Meera and Maya are trying to solve.
• Great Acting : Trisha and Shabeer do an amazing job in their roles. They make you feel like you’re right there with them, feeling what they’re feeling.
• Music and Pictures : The music in the movie is really cool and adds to the suspense. The way the movie is shot, which means how it’s filmed, is also pretty awesome. It makes everything look very real and exciting.
• Emotional Journey : The movie isn’t just about the action; it’s also about how the characters feel. You get to see how they deal with tough situations, which can be really moving.

The Road” touches on various themes that deeply connect with its viewers. A key theme is the relentless pursuit of truth and justice. The character Meera’s unwavering effort to reveal the truth behind a staged accident underscores a mother’s extreme dedication to achieving justice for her family. Meanwhile, Maya’s battle against unfounded allegations brings to light the repercussions of premature judgments and reflects on the #MeToo movement’s influence.

Additionally, the movie probes into the intricacies of human nature, examining our inherent potential for both benevolence and malevolence. It portrays the fragility of characters like Meera and Maya, who are ensnared in circumstances beyond their control. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that the lines between victims and culprits are often blurred.

The atmosphere of The Road is marked by intense suspense and tension. Director Arun Vaseegaran skillfully maintains a gripping hold on the audience, with each sequence heightening the sense of anticipation and intrigue. The film achieves a harmonious blend of emotionally rich moments and thrilling sequences, offering a deeply immersive and thrilling movie-going experience.

The cast of The Road

Lead performances: trisha krishnan and shabeer kallarakkal.

“The Road” features Trisha Krishnan in the lead role, portraying the character of Meera, a journalist and a grieving mother. Trisha’s performance is a standout, as she skillfully depicts Meera’s emotional journey from shock and despair to determination and resilience. Her ability to convey a wide range of emotions adds depth and authenticity to the character. Alongside Trisha, Shabeer Kallarakkal plays the role of Maya, a college professor caught in a web of false accusations. Shabeer’s portrayal is both powerful and nuanced, effectively evoking empathy from the audience. His performance, particularly in the emotionally charged scenes, is commendable and adds a significant layer to the film’s narrative.

Supporting Cast of The Road

The film also features a strong supporting cast that contributes significantly to its overall impact. Santhosh Pratap plays the role of Anand, Meera’s husband, whose character is central to the unfolding of the plot. Miya George, as Meera’s friend Anu, and M. S. Bhaskar, as constable Subramani, deliver solid performances, enhancing the film’s authenticity. Vivek Prasanna and other supporting actors also play crucial roles, each adding their unique touch to the story. The ensemble cast works well together, creating a believable and engaging world that draws the audience into the film’s narrative.

Casting Choices in The Road and Its Impact

The casting choices in “The Road” are pivotal to its storytelling. Each actor seems carefully selected to fit their respective roles, contributing to the film’s overall coherence and impact. The performances are not just about individual brilliance but also about how well the actors interact and complement each other. This synergy among the cast members helps in effectively conveying the film’s themes and emotions, making “The Road” a compelling watch. The actors’ ability to embody their characters and interact naturally adds a layer of realism to the film, making the story more relatable and impactful for the audience.

Direction of The Road

Director Arun Vaseegaran deserves commendation for his adept handling of “The Road,” skillfully navigating the intricate narrative and seamlessly weaving together two parallel storylines. Arun’s storytelling prowess shines through in his ability to sustain suspense throughout the film, keeping the audience on edge until the final reveal.

One standout aspect of Arun’s direction is his portrayal of vulnerability. He adeptly captures the emotional fragility of the characters, making their struggles and dilemmas highly relatable. Particularly noteworthy are the film’s intense sequences, especially those set amidst a maze of rocks, which highlight Arun’s talent for creating gripping cinematic moments.

While the first two acts of the film are marked by suspense and emotional depth, the third act does falter slightly as the plot takes on a somewhat generic tone. This is where the film’s pacing could have been improved, as the climax feels prolonged and lacks the intensity seen in earlier scenes.

Score and Cinematography: Setting the Mood for The Road

The background score by Sam C.S. plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining the tension in the film. The haunting melodies and pulsating rhythms contribute to the overall suspenseful atmosphere, effectively complementing the narrative and enhancing the emotional engagement of the audience.

Cinematographer KG Venkatesh’s visuals are remarkable, capturing the essence of the film’s diverse settings, from the desolate highway to the tranquil village. The use of lighting and camera angles adds depth to the storytelling, providing a visually captivating experience.

Production Design and Special Effects: Embracing Authenticity

“The Road” benefits from authentic production design that fully immerses the audience in the characters’ world. The portrayal of both urban and rural settings feels genuine, significantly contributing to the film’s realism.

While the film doesn’t heavily rely on special effects, choosing instead to utilize practical effects to convey its narrative, this decision enhances the film’s authenticity. It prioritizes character-driven storytelling over flashy visual effects.

Editing and Pace of The Road: A Riveting Journey with Minor Hiccups

Editor Ariyanthakka Rajamani Sivaraj’s work is commendable, maintaining a cohesive flow throughout most of the film. However, there are moments, especially in the climax, where tighter editing could have improved the pacing. While the film’s duration is not excessive, a slight trimming in the final act could enhance the overall experience.

Where to Watch The Road?

An imminent announcement is expected regarding the release of the movie “The Road” on an OTT platform. Although unconfirmed reports hint at Netflix possibly acquiring the rights to the film, official confirmation is still pending.

Wrapping up the Thrilling Expedition of The Road

In conclusion, “The Road” stands as a gripping thriller offering a compelling narrative, stellar performances, and moments of genuine emotional depth. Director Arun Vaseegaran expertly crafts a tale of vengeance and redemption, keeping the audience engaged for the majority of the film.

While the pacing falters slightly in the climax, and the third act ventures into generic territory, “The Road” remains a cinematic experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It successfully explores themes of justice, human nature, and vulnerability, inviting the audience to empathize with its characters.

Whether you’re a fan of suspenseful thrillers or nuanced character-driven dramas, “The Road” is a journey worth undertaking. It keeps you guessing, tugs at your heartstrings, and ultimately leaves a lasting impression, making it a noteworthy addition to Tamil cinema.

By Abeer jawad

By Sanya Rehman

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The Road Movie Review: A bumpy ride with p(l)otholes and convenient twists 

Rating: ( 1.5 / 5).

Be it a fun boys' trip turned adventure (Saroja), or a romantic drama topped with action (Paiyaa), roads have been used as major plot devices by filmmakers across genres and generations. And just like that a road, or in this case a highway lane, becomes a tool for a much larger organised crime chain. Headlined by Trisha, The Road is an investigative thriller meets an emotional drama, where one particular road doesn’t only personify a grim reaper, but also is the central tool for a gang that orchestrates accidents to rob the subsequently dead and injured ones. However, before we are introduced to this dark world, we are made to believe how Trisha’s Meera is living a content and spot-free life with her loving son Kavin and husband Anand (Santhosh Pratap), through just a song. The film chooses lethargic writing over hard work so much that Meera and Anand struggle to tell their 10-year-old son that his birthday road trip isn’t possible because that doesn’t suit the health conditions of expecting Meera. How difficult would it be for two adults to confront their child on noble grounds? But no, just for the film's sake to take a dark plunge, the father-son duo embarks on the trip, just for the grim reaper to hunt them down. The tragedy strikes, and it is Meera who has to probe into their deaths. Now don’t ask me how a woman who lives in a luxurious, well-settled villa, and is not even close to a sleuth profession, handles a gun with ease, forget being a mastermind of breaking a crime syndicate and hiring forensic experts on a washed-down case by the cops.

Director: Arun Vaseegaran 

Cast: Trisha, Shabeer Kallarakkal, MS Bhaskar, Vivek Prasanna, and others  The Road isn’t just a substandard mixed bag of many elements together but has a problematic moral compass on pressing issues of today’s times. In the era of social media, where harassment and bullying are common, and labelling communities based on hierarchical preferences is rampant, the film trivialises sexual harassment allegations and notions of residents of indigenous regions as mere plot-pushers. In one instance, a righteous college professor Maya (Shabeer Kallarakkal) is accused of predatory behaviour by student Priya to get back at him for rejecting her love. Now, the problem isn’t just about the romantic score when Priya pursues Maya, much to the latter’s chagrin (the case would definitely not be the same in a gender reversal situation), but also at one instance when Priya isn’t questioned about what she is doing in a library alone with Maya when she is taking a loo break from the exam hall. Even as the director uses this as a trigger point for Maya to spiral down into the drain hole and embrace the darker side, character arcs ask, “Am I a joke to you?” when you almost pity a man who comes all the way from a visibly impoverished hilly terrain to teach students, only for him to turn into a blood-sucking monster with no remorse whatsoever. As I said earlier, the ethical compass of the character is so skewed that years of righteousness turn bitter in a couple of incidents, reflecting the film’s flaws. The film trades convenient twists for an engrossing thriller. There is no point where you empathise and connect with the lead, who has just lost her family, experienced a miscarriage, and is facing a whole lot of evil men because the film never stops to build these moments organically. A montage song lasting a couple of minutes neither helps you understand why the trio is a close-knit family. On the other hand, The Road tries hard to make you sympathise with its antagonist’s past, that the drastic change in him, stands out like a sore thumb and the fear is never instilled. When the writing pushes you to accept the film’s way of things, it only becomes harder to nod and agree to what is in offer. Even as injustice is served to Maya, and just as when The Road begins to build a connection and piques your curiosity about where it is going, it collapses to nothingness and commodious choices.

Alas, with all that said, The Road is riddled with p(l)otholes, shallow writing and convenient twists that make up for a bumpy ride, reminding you of the trip that once gave you motion sickness.

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• What is the release date of 'The Road'? Release date of Trisha Krishnan and Santhosh Prathap starrer 'The Road' is 2023-10-06.
• Who are the actors in 'The Road'? 'The Road' star cast includes Trisha Krishnan, Santhosh Prathap, Miya George and Vivek Prasanna.
• Who is the director of 'The Road'? 'The Road' is directed by Arun Vaseegaran.
• What is Genre of 'The Road'? 'The Road' belongs to 'Drama,Thriller' genre.
• In Which Languages is 'The Road' releasing? 'The Road' is releasing in Tamil.

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• 06 Oct 2023
• Crime, Thriller
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• Status Released
• Release date 06 Oct 2023
• Running time 2h 23m
• Genres Crime, Thriller

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The Road ( U/A ) 06/Oct/2023 2hrs 23mins

Critics: 3 Panel: 0 User: 94

Overall: 3.4 from 97 users

Synopsis/Plot : Arun Vaseegaran has also revealed that The Road is based on a real life incident that took place in Madurai 20 years ago. Trisha plays a journalist turned housewife/mother of a 7 year old son where as Santhosh Pratap plays her husband. Shabeer Kallarakkal plays a professor turned villain in this story and his conflict with Trisha is what the story revolves around.

Director : Arun Vaseegaran

Music Director : Sam C.s

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Shabeer shines in this decent crime thriller starring trisha.

However, the film turns pretty generic once we get the identity of the mastermind behind the chilling crimes on the highway. It's as if the film had run out of ideas by then and decided to drag it to its end. The filmmaking is also functional and the loud background score (by Sam CS) overpowers us i... (more)

Source: Suganth, Times Of India

Trisha's road thriller lacks orignality

'The Road' could have been a solid thriller with a few surprises in the screenplay. Unfortunately, there are only a few redeeming aspects in the film (more)

Source: Janani, India Today

This Trisha-starrer is a predictable, dead-end thriller

After the final punch to the gut � an awful joke of a climax � you wish actors like Shabeer and MS Bhaskar choose scripts that do justice to the performers in them. For Trisha, who once again shows that she deserves a script worth her stardom and heart, The Road offers nothing new and her poor run w... (more)

Source: BHUVANESH CHANDAR, The Hindu

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Cannes: ‘Fury Road’ prequel ‘Furiosa’ forgets what makes the ‘Mad Max’ movies great

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When Australia’s George Miller came here in 2016 to serve as jury president, just months after his “Mad Max: Fury Road” won six Oscars, he swept in like a conquering hero. His movie was undeniable: a reinvigoration of both his career and the action genre. Often, the relationship between Cannes and the blockbuster directors it invites comes off as strained — see French artist Zaho de Sagazan serenading this year’s jury president Greta Gerwig at Tuesday’s opening ceremony — but with Miller, the moment felt right.

Things change. His “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (in theaters May 24), a somewhat dutiful new prequel to “Fury Road,” had its world premiere out of competition Wednesday, unspooling at the capacious Grand Lumière Theatre to a rapt audience that, it must be said, didn’t laugh once. “Who laughs at the end of the world?” you may ask. But that would be to deny Miller the richness of his grungy post-apocalyptic series, one that pairs brutal action sequences with emotional resonance, dark mythmaking, sociopolitical alarm and, yes, the odd Ozploitative chuckle at some catastrophic personal misfortune.

We strap in with director George Miller, the ‘Mad Max’ mastermind, back with ‘Furiosa’

Australia’s leading export of postapocalyptic mayhem, Miller reflects on 45 years of action, the lure of digital and the summer’s most anticipated blockbuster.

May 6, 2024

Some of that is in evidence in “Furiosa,” but nowhere near enough. For the first time in Miller’s now-five-film franchise, he seems to be falling shy of the immediacy he’s sustained, often deliriously, for an entire feature. Any prequel would necessitate a certain distance: This is what happened before the story you already know. And if you ever confused Charlize Theron ’s hollowed-out stare in “Fury Road” for a lack of backstory (that’s actually the performance you’re noticing), “Furiosa” is here to supply that material for you, not unentertainingly. But with every supersaturated blue sky, russet-colored desert shot and faux-literary chapter heading (“2. Lessons from the Wasteland”), the movie gets further away from feeling like a tale that’s happening, to one that’s already been told, cleaned up and prettified.

Miller still mounts a film more confidently than just about anyone on the planet, and his kickoff, a 10-minute, near-wordless chase, is the definition of getting off on the good foot. A ferociously protective mom (the wonderful Charlee Fraser) trails, on horseback and motorcycle, a gang of kidnappers who have fled with her preteen daughter Furiosa (Alyla Browne, expressive during the film’s first hour). The latter, while unfortunate to be caught, is resourceful in her own way, chewing through a fuel line and blessed with the benefit of an especially prescient name. Flung over the back of a bike, her long hair flowing in the wind, the shot brings to mind to another defiant woman in Miller’s 1982 “The Road Warrior.”

A word about that stone-cold classic: By dint of the technology that was then on hand (i.e., no digital effects and a nutso stunt crew), “The Road Warrior” throws you into bodily panic with every kinetic setup. “Furiosa” rarely feels dangerous. Too much of its blood and fire is the work of computers, and for the first time, that work is obvious. There’s something very un-“Mad Max” about this; the tactility of the earlier films fed into the realness of potentially surviving the fall of civilization, even if that meant coming face to face with a tyrannical Tina Turner .

But the punkish spirit of the young Furiosa — forced to sit in a cage like a sad pet — goes a long way to setting up our connection with the character. Less so her captor, Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, who, though he tries hard to build an arm-swinging, cape-wearing, motormouthed swagger, doesn’t have the lines to give his gang leader the kind of vanity we could relish in a villain. Eventually we get those bleach-pale War Boys from “Fury Road” again, along with the monstrously masked Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), his thuggish mutant son Rictus (Nathan Jones) and a geographical trade war that’s a bit more complex than it needs to be.

Miller, who with co-screenwriter Nick Lauthoris worked out these script details before they approached “Fury Road,” mainly have their sights set on a centerpiece that comes close to redeeming the entire film: a lavishly armed War Rig truck barreling down an endless highway, hounded by attackers with propellers strapped to their backs. Finally, the grandeur of the older movies is here, as is Anya Taylor-Joy , whose Furiosa has now gone through her Yentl-passing-for-a-boy phase and now seems meant to wear a glamorous black smudge on her forehead and learn everything she needs to know about “road war” from Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke of “The Souvenir,” channeling the Leone-esque minimalism that marked Mel Gibson’s original antihero).

We have a lot to learn about road war as well. What’s a bommy-knocker? (I won’t spoil it, but generally, you pay extra for that option.) There’s a finding-your-calling film built into “Furiosa” — maybe it took the apocalypse for this former fruit-picker to discover what she does well — plus a hint of a front-seat romance that’s never made explicit. But just as the movie is hitting its stride and Simon Duggan’s cinematography settles down, Miller strays back to a less-exciting vengeance narrative.

Much has already been made of Taylor-Joy’s lack of dialogue — hardly a drawback when you take in her burning stares and see how potently she’s making something out of nothing. If the movie has a deficiency (and it does), it’s not one of exposition but euphoria. The “Mad Max” universe was never all that cautionary, not if you yourself ever wondered how you’d make it through societal meltdown and what kind of mohawk you’d get. The exhilaration of the polecats sequence in “Fury Road” — that fact that there’s such a thing as polecats — made the series a constant source of glee.

“Furiosa,” to its distinction and detriment, ends up being too self-regarding, too downbeat. It takes the fun out of survival. Miller’s imagination has fed into “The Last of Us,” “Fallout” and a host of other grayscale nightmares for movies and TV. He knows better than anyone that forward momentum is key to a “Mad Max” movie. Leave the prequels to those who don’t have any gas left in the tank.

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'

Rating: R, for sequences of strong violence, and grisly images Running time: 2 hours, 28 minutes Playing: In wide release Friday, May 24

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max.

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• Trivia Filmed in New South Wales, Australia. All Mad Max movies have been filmed in Australia, with the exception of Fury Road, when record rain falls transformed the normally arid desert areas into lush green growth areas.

Monologue : 45 years after the collapse, a young Furiosa is taken from her family. She will devote the rest of her life to finding her way home. This is her odyssey.

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• May 24, 2024 (United States)
• Furiosa: Câu Chuyện Từ Max Điên
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• $168,000,000 (estimated)

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‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Review: The Origin Story of Furiosa Has Dazzling Sequences, but George Miller’s Overstuffed Epic Is No ‘Fury Road’

Anya Taylor-Joy plays the title hellion as a heavy-metal Candide bouncing through the Wasteland, but despite some awesome action moments (and two mega villains), the feeling is one of inflated franchise overkill.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

• ‘Wild Diamond’ Review: Agathe Reidinger’s Drama About a 19-Year-Old Girl in Thrall to the False Gods of Social Media and Reality TV Announces the Arrival of a Major Filmmaker 12 hours ago
• ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Review: The Origin Story of Furiosa Has Dazzling Sequences, but George Miller’s Overstuffed Epic Is No ‘Fury Road’ 16 hours ago
• ‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’ Review: An Accomplished Pressure-Cooker Thriller That’s Like a Tarantino-Fueled Noir, 30 Years Later 6 days ago

The first thing to say about “ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ” is that it’s not like any other “Mad Max” film. The movie, which runs 2 hours and 28 minutes, is teemingly, sprawlingly, phantasmagorically ambitious. Where “Mad Max: Fury Road” was set over three days, “Furiosa” takes place over 15 years and tells the origin story of Imperator Furiosa in five chapters (which come with titles like “The Pole of Inaccessibility”). The film has a cast of thousands of depraved hooligan bikers with rusty weapons and rotten teeth. At times, it feels like they’re getting ready to gather for Wasteland Woodstock.

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Most people would say “The Road Warrior” is greater. But “Mad Max,” in its cruder low-budget way, had a down-and-dirty B-movie virtuosity. “The Road Warrior” was bigger and grander. I decided — this was part of the fun of the game — that the greatest “Mad Max” film was whichever one you happened to be watching.

A few years later, Miller, perhaps high on his own legend (a syndrome that’s more or less built into being a visionary filmmaker), made “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” (1985), a threequel that had some splendid things in it — Tina Turner, the Thunderdome showdown — but that also turned into an inflated Jungian fairy tale about “saving the children” (a good idea in life, but not so often in movies). It wasn’t a terrible film, yet the series felt cooked, spent, diminished. It seemed as if “Mad Max” and “The Road Warrior” were too bravura in their drive-by nihilism to keep extending. Miller had made the two greatest action films of all time, and he moved on to other things.

But that, of course, wasn’t the end of the story. In a world of recycled IP, “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), released 30 years later, did the impossible. It revived the series at full intensity, sweeping memories of “Beyond Thunderdome” under its spectacular wreckage, and creating a heroine — Charlize Theron’s hellacious buzzcut Furiosa — who was every bit as full-throttle commanding as Mel Gibson’s Max. True to her name, the film was so fast and furious that your eyeballs had to learn how to watch it, to follow the ballistic micro edits. But when you got onto the wavelength, the black magic of the “Mad Max” world was back. It was an epic desert drag-race miracle, a sequel worthy of the first two films — and, in that sense, maybe the third greatest action film ever made.

So what does one do for an encore to that ?

“Furiosa” tells the story of how its title character grows up, how she goes from being an innocent village girl, raised in the Green Place of Many Mothers (where she’s already daring enough to sever the fuel hose on a stranger’s motorcycle), to a kidnapped waif to a resourceful orphan who passes herself off as a boy to a devious hellion who bounces back and forth between dueling postapocalyptic underworld empires: that of the Warlord Dementus ( Chris Hemsworth ), the long-haired-and-bearded ruler of the Biker Horde that first absconds with her (leading them, Dementus rides in the chopper version of a “Ben-Hur” chariot); and that of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), the ancient, gas-masked, white-maned cult leader of the Citadel, the colony of white-faced fighter disciples who Furiosa was trying to escape from in “Fury Road.”

“Furiosa,” by contrast, is a picaresque with a stop-and-go rhythm, as the young Furiosa goes from the frying pan into the fire, like a heavy-metal Candide, forming attachments through her survival instincts but never sticking with anyone for long. She’s a lone wolf in a world of scoundrels. Theoretically, that’s easy to understand, but a movie, almost by nature, needs to be about the forging of bonds. And “Furiosa,” as populated as it is with disposable warriors (and characters with names like Scrotus and Toe Jam and The Octoboss and The People Eater and War Boy), feels alienated and a touch impersonal. The film seems more invested in Miller’s elaborate and, at moments, overly digitized extensions of the Wasteland than in the people who inhabit it. In that way, it’s got a touch of Marvel-itis.   

The film seems all but designed to show off its world’s-end locations — the Citadel, the skull-faced cliff we already know well, and Gas Town, a petrochemical jungle surrounded by a giant moat, and the Bullet Farm. There’s one spectacular action sequence. It’s plunked into the center of the movie, and it involves a gleaming silver two-section tanker, with a jagged whirring read-end doohicky, the entire thing built out of spare parts, as it speeds along the desert blacktop with rogue bikers attacking it from all sides. We’ve been here before, but it’s sensationally gratifying to be here again: in the unholy thick of speed and murder, with warriors now dying by incineration.

Yet it’s never a good sign, at least in a “Mad Max” movie, when your most dazzling set piece comes in the middle. “Furiosa,” like “Beyond Thunderdome,” wants to be something loftier than an action blowout, but the movie is naggingly episodic, and though it’s got two indomitable villains, neither one quite becomes the delirious badass you want.

When the young Furiosa, played by Alyla Browne, is first captured, we think horrible things are going to happen to her. She is zoomed across the nighttime desert, where the gnarly biker who nabbed her plans to inform Dementus of the oasis she came from (which, in the Garden of Eden opening sequence, looks civilized enough to be the Whole Foods of the apocalyptic afterworld). But then Furiosa’s mother shows up to rescue her — a ruthless warrior named Mary Jo Bassa (Charlee Fraser) who knows how to repair and ride a Thunder Bike and is willing to die to protect her cub.

Then too, there’s something a bit off about how the movie comes close to cushioning the evil of Immortan Joe. This is a ruler who presides over a sick sect of suicide killers, and who extends his royal line by maintaining a harem of sex-slave wives. We know all this from “Fury Road,” of course. But since Immortan Joe’s Citadel is the place Furiosa is destined to end up, the film goes a little easy on it. Immortan Joe and Dementus cut a deal over gasoline, and given how dastardly both of them are supposed to be, the battle between them should have been more lavishly twisted.

The scenes where Furiosa passes herself off as a boy aren’t quite convincing; you have to just go with them. Then she grows up, and Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the role. She’s a powerful actor with a sensual scowl, but here, with hardly any words to speak, she’s at her most stoic. That seems on some level appropriate, especially when she propels herself through an entire road chase underneath a vehicle. But the character is more reactive and less hellbent than either Gibson’s Max or Theron’s Furiosa. For a while, Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa forms a connection with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), a road warrior whose main lesson to her seems to be to wear blue greasepaint on their foreheads. Their partnership comes out of nowhere, then fades into nowhere.

More crucial: As much as I loved the character of Furiosa in “Fury Road,” do we really need to see her tangled, deep-dive-that-somehow-stays-on-the-surface origin story? It’s an impulse, at heart, that grows out of franchise culture, and maybe that’s why “Furiosa,” for all the tasty stuff in it, is a half-satisfying movie. Miller creates a volatile world to wander around in, and I suspect a number of viewers and critics will respond fully to that. But part of the genius of the “Mad Max” films is that when they’re pumping on all cylinders, even when they’re as grand as “The Road Warrior” and “Fury Road,” they are also, in spirit, as lean and mean as one of those lethal spiked jalopies zooming down the blacktop. In attempting to inflate his universe into something larger, Miller clutters it with pretension and makes it mean less. He takes his eye off the place where the rubber meets the road.

Reviewed at Dolby 88, New York, May 6, 2024. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 148 MIN.

• Production: A Warner Bros. release of a Kennedy Miller production. Producers: George Miller, Doug Mitchell.
• Crew: Director: George Miller. Screenplay: George Miller, Nico Lathouris. Camera: Simon Duggan. Editors: Eliot Knapman, Margaret Sixel. Music: Tom Holkenborg.
• With: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Lachy Hulme, Charlee Fraser, Angus Sampson, Alyla Browne, Daniel Webber, Nathan Jones, Gordon D. Kleut.

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'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' Review: Anya Taylor-Joy Takes Over in a Brutal Return to Fury Road

N ine years ago, George Miller's series of "Mad Max" films changed from a brutally entertaining dystopian fantasy, which it had been for three movies between 1979 and 1985, to a shockingly good (and yes, brutally entertaining) work of cinematic art capable of winning lots of awards. And since that transition began with the 2015 premiere of "Mad Max: Fury Road" at the Cannes Film Festival, it makes sense that the next installment in his epic series -- which now gets the official designation of saga in its title, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" - would premiere on Wednesday evening in Cannes.

Of course, it's not really a Mad Max saga - it's the saga of somebody who will one day get to know Mad Max. In "Fury Road," Charlize Theron's character of Furiosa, a rebel, warrior and protean feminist in the testosterone-dripping wasteland of a ravaged post-apocalyptic Australia, managed to upstage Tom Hardy's Max Rockatansky (a successor to Mel Gibson's Max back in the '80s). In the new movie, Furiosa takes over completely for what amounts to a prequel and origin story for the character.

(Max does get a cameo in "Furiosa," but it's little more than a bit of fan service.)

With Anya Taylor-Joy taking over for Theron and the dusty and high octane action sequences pumped up  to a gloriously excessive degree, "Furiosa" is a satisfying addition to a franchise that has gone from the indie aesthetic of the original "Mad Max" to the over-the-top extravagance of "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" (Tina Turner as Aunty Entity!) to the nifty trick pulled off by Miller in the last two movies, which contain as many vehicular stunts as a "Fast  & Furious" flick but still feel at home in the Grand Theatre Lumiere at Cannes.

Is "Furiosa" as thoroughly fulfilling as its predecessor? Not exactly, though that's partly because the last film came as a delicious shock after the 30-year gap since "Thunderdome," during which time Miller occupied himself with everything from "The Witches of Eastwick" to "Babe: Pig in the City" to "Happy Feet."

"Fury Road" was an imaginative, virtuoso action joint that fired on all cylinders from start to finish; "Furiosa" backs up, fills in the blanks and does a solid job of giving its title character a history that answers questions that its predecessor left in the dust. But it doesn't deliver the thrills quite as thoroughly or carry the same sense of discovery, and it doesn't seem likely to lead all films in Academy Award wins next March, the way "Fury Road" did with its six Oscars back in 2016.

Miller has said that the story of the new film was written before the filming of "Fury Road," because the character needed a strong backstory even if that story wasn't seen and was barely discussed in that film. That story is laid out from the start, opening in the verdant commune where the young Furiosa (Alyla Browne)  is being raised by her fierce mother (Charlee Fraser), before desert raiders led by Chris Hemsworth's Dementus kidnap the young girl and end up killing her mother when she attempts to rescue Furiosa.

Starting with that "Green Place" that Furiosa has been longing for ever since, the new movie ticks off and explains one aspect of the character after another: The harem of wives she frees and drives off with in the last movie, the prosthetic forearm she sports, the dramatic makeup fashioned from motor oil. Taylor-Joy is a couple of inches shorter than Theron, and more accustomed to being a quieter force in projects like "The Queen's Gambit" and "Last Night in Soho." But that's kind of the point of the character, who morphs from a little girl who's lost her mom to a fearsome warrior who can bring down a grubby, cartoonishly vicious patriarchy.  

In "Furiosa," Taylor-Joy lives up to her character's gleefully descriptive name and is entirely believable as somebody who might grow up to be Theron. (And Browne, who plays her as a young girl, is so entirely believable as somebody who might grow up to be Taylor-Joy that you start to think about that creepy de-aging technology in movies like "The Irishman.")

Furiosa's main foe in this film - though to be fair,  just about everybody you meet in this dusty apocalypse of a world is a foe of one sort of another; it's just a bad neighborhood - is Chris Hemsworth's Doctor Dementus. (You have to assume his moniker is just another of Miller's tongue-in-cheek character names rather than a nod to Dr. Demento, the Los Angeles deejay who used to play seriously twisted records on his syndicated show every week.) But Hemsworth appears to take the comic tinge of the name (and his hooked prosthetic nose) as an inspiration: He's pretty much a whiny brat trying to be an evil warlord, acting cruel and vicious mostly because his minions expect it of him.

There are times when Hemsworth's approach works - the final showdown between Dementus and Furiosa has a refreshingly human slant - but the comic touches also seem like a miscalculation at times. This is above all a revenge saga, with Furiosa an implacable force out to make him pay, and it feels odd to be laughing at the guy our heroine is out to destroy.

But "Furiosa" is wildly and yes, furiously over-the-top because that's what "Mad Max" movies are, and its excesses are glorious enough to sweep away any tonal quibbles. People get run over by monster trucks and blown up by exploding spears thrown from hang gliders; Furiosa spends most of one epic-length action scene underneath a truck; and no battle scene is good enough unless it's taking place at a minimum of 60 miles an hour. And yet it makes sense that they're showing the damn thing at the Cannes Film Festival.

So tip your greasy, dusty, battered hat to Miller, who is pulling off some kind of ridiculous feat by turning these grungy action movies into a grand saga.  

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

The post 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' Review: Anya Taylor-Joy Takes Over in a Brutal Return to Fury Road appeared first on TheWrap .