“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”

Genre: Post-apocalyptic action/adventure

Countries: Australia/United States

Directed by: George Miller

Written by: Miller and Nico Lathouris, based on characters created by Miller and Byron Kennedy

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, Quaden Bayles, Daniel Webber, Elsa Pataky, Jacob Tomuri

Rated: Rated R for sequences of strong violence, grisly images

Run time: 2 hours, 28 minutes

Release date: In theaters May 23, 2024

Where I saw it: AMC Classic Columbus 12 in Columbus, Ind., on a Thursday evening, $6.49 (with senior discount), eight other people in the theater

What it’s about: In a prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) that also serves as a franchise reboot and origin story (and is the fifth movie in the series dating back to 1979), a young Furiosa (Browne as a girl, Taylor-Joy as a young adult) is kidnapped by Warlord Dementus (Hemsworth) and the Biker Horde, struggles to survive in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland where competing factions battle for the last remaining resources, becomes a lieutenant for cult leader Immortan Joe (Hulme) and his military commander, Praetorian Jack (Burke), and seeks revenge against Dementus, who killed her mother.

What I liked about it: If you want action, you’ve got it. Miller and co-writer Lathouris weave a compelling origin/revenge story into all the warring, chases and explosions (little in this movie doesn’t burn at some point). But let’s face it, you came to a “Mad Max” movie to see the warring, chases and explosions unfold constantly against the backdrop of a vast wasteland. The action sequences produce consistent “oohs” and “aahs,” even if no one scene stands out as spectacularly above the rest. And a couple of squeamish moments will have audiences recoiling. … The “Mad Max” franchise has prided itself on using practical effects, but the CGI in “Furiosa” is prominent and obvious. Miller and his crew even use CGI to transfer some of Taylor-Joy’s facial features onto the young Browne. Some of the CGI looks cheap, but that is keeping with the tone of the film, which is cheesy and fun even with the joyless subject matter. Parts of “Furiosa” have the look of a low-budget horror film in the best of ways. … One shudders to think where this movie would be without the star power of Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth. Taylor-Joy has little dialogue for a chief protagonist, but her screen presence commands attention and does the speaking for her. Hemsworth is going for broke here. And though he might be riffing on Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow from “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, he consistently injects humor as a warlord who is more inept that he likes to think. … For a movie that is loud (explosions tend to be loud, and there’s almost always an explosion), Miller and company make great use of silence at the right moments.

What I didn’t like about it: It’s at least 30 minutes too long. And  breaking it up in chapters did little to make it more digestible. It’s just a lot of action that goes on and on and on. One scene in which Jack drives the Citadel’s War Rig (with Furiosa helping defend it) across the desert as it is under siege seems to play out in real time, and apparently it takes a long time to dispatch dozens of attackers. I’m not sure how many motorcycles exploded before I lost interest, but it must have been after 50, 60 or more. It all became exploding motorcycle and vehicular chase white noise at some point. … While the final act is a strong point, the ending initially felt jolting. But in hindsight, an earlier scene set up what happens, and the finale should not have been wholly unexpected given the main character in the movie is a woman out for revenge in a man’s world.

Who it will appeal to: People who like to see motorcycles catch on fire

My score: 70 out of 100