I love the Mad Max universe, and have enjoyed every single one of the films that George Miller has delivered us that give us looks into that world. I had plans to see the latest film, Furiosa, on the big screen but life happened.

So I finally had a chance to settle in and enjoy this one. And I did, it was a big, raucous adventure with lots of great stunt work, and stunning locations, but I was a little bummed to see a lot of visual effects use. I know there was some in Fury Road, but it just seemed a lot more apparent in this film.

That would occasionally eject me out of the film, but I still enjoyed this romp, even though you know the main character, Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) is going to be fine because this is a prequel to Fury Road. It’s all about set-up, world-building and an exploration of the Wasteland that we race through in Fury Road.

A young Furiousa is stolen from her home in the Green Place by bikers who serve Dementus (Chris Hemsworth with a prosthetic nose, and a broad sense of humor). When he attempts to assault the Citadel, headed by Imortan Joe (Lachy Hume who took over the role from Hugh Keays-Byrne following his passing), he sets into motion something bigger than all of them as Furiosa just wants to get back to the Green Place, but discovers others along the way who will need her help.

We see how the character learns to become who she is in Fury Road, and she learns it in the most violent manner as she works with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) and they encounter the War Boys, see Gas Town and the Bullet Farm and the eccentric and horrifying characters who inhabit it.

There’s no singular standout sequence in the film, though there are dozens of solid action beats, and fantastic stunt work as chases and battles take place across the deserts of the Australian Outback.

The editing, locations, performances and more are everything we’ve come to hope for and expect from a Mad Max story, it’s just that some of the visual effects jarred me right out of the film. Other VFX are fantastic, it’s the greenscreen stuff that doesn’t look as good as it should.

Taylor-Joy embodies Furiosa’s determination and rage perfectly making the character her own, even while marrying it easily to Charlize Theron’s performance in Fury Road.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about this entry is that it opened up the Wasteland letting us take a look at the world that often rushes by in a chase. It build s everything out, even as chases and battles wage around them.

I do hope there are more tales set in the Max-verse to come, rumor has it there’s another one coming and I’ll be waiting for The Wastelands.