My jaw dropped open in 2016. Rarely in life does that happen, but the viewing experience of “Mad Max: Fury Road” was something to behold. As one of the best action movies of all time, “Fury Road” was on repeat as I couldn’t stop watching scenes and clips over and over, obsessing over the cinematography, the soundtrack, the use of practical effects and more. 

However, as the years went and came, I always wondered in the back of my mind when the next “Mad Max” movie was going to be released. As there was no word from director George Miller, my hopes died out, and I accepted that “Fury Road” was one and done.

Until there were murmurs of a potential second film. Finally, in November 2023, the first trailer was released.

Would it live up to expectations? Is it possible to top “Fury Road”?

The answer? Though it’s hard to top “Fury Road,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” was a better follow-up movie than I anticipated.

Eight years later, I found myself with my jaw hanging open once again. However, it was all for different reasons. Though “Fury Road” hinged on its action, set pieces and cinematography while relying on minimal dialogue, “Furiosa” couldn’t be more different. 

While “Fury Road” is a masterpiece for so many reasons, the story and plot is, unfortunately, not one of them. Though it does give post-apocalyptic Australia life and background, it’s hard to make sense of the story. That’s where “Furiosa” excels. It puts two and two together from the missing pieces from “Fury Road,” and it makes sense. It explains what was missed, and I saw Miller’s brilliance as he told this story.

The iconic action and set pieces that was the voice of “Fury Road” didn’t even show up until around halfway through “Furiosa,” yet I didn’t notice they were missing until it happened. The movie solely relied on dialogue focused on world-building, and the villain of Chris Hemsworth’s character, Dementus, was better than I’d expected. The way he mixes in the humor he’s known for with his rage and wit was a welcome sight, especially coming off of “Thor: Love and Thunder.” However, he’s still a dangerous character, standing up to Immortan Joe as well as destroying Furiosa’s childhood and leaving her with nothing but vengeance.

The costumes. My goodness, the costumes were just so fun to see. The most memorable ones were when the action finally begins and Miller flexes his muscles. As raiders attack a War Rig, Miller introduces the paratroopers. Donning all black with a veil to conceal their faces, they had a haunting aura as they flew high above, laying havoc to the Rig. 

While bodies and cars went flying, I found myself hearing all the sounds within the world — whereas in “Fury Road,” the background score would overtake the action scenes. The change was a welcome one, and I enjoyed the consistent fast score as it fit in within “Furiosa.”

Though I had known of Anya Taylor-Joy’s skills, the way she pulled off “Furiosa” was better than I’d expected. By the conclusion, it became obvious she was the ideal actor for the role, just as Charlize Theron was in “Fury Road.” Taylor-Joy exhibited the perfect younger version of Theron as she tried to find her way back home, and finally — as it became obvious that she couldn’t— her role in Immortan Joe’s army was a seamless transition. She perfectly exhibited Furiosa growing up, and her hatred for Dementus felt real.

Her dynamic with Praetorian Jack, played by Tom Burke, was the highlight of the film. The way the two immediately worked together to fend off the raiders on the War Rig was reminiscent of the way Theron and Tom Hardy did in “Fury Road,” doing its predecessor justice. Burke played the role perfectly and their goals and motivations were rightly aligned with each other, eventually falling in love with one another, which gave Furiosa even more motivation on her hell-bent journey of enacting revenge on Dementus. 

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, dialogue, characters and set pieces, the main issue I had was the movie’s misuse of color-grading and CGI. While “Fury Road” set the standard for practical effects with minimal uses of CGI, making scenes come to life through real explosions and harsh red color-grading, “Furiosa” suffered from lack of both. The color-grading was too clean for me as it relied on softer colors, a downgrade from its predecessor eight years ago, and there were more moments that I could see the CGI at work — and it wasn’t done well. 

However, all is forgiven following the conclusion of the film. I found myself being that kid from eight years ago that was obsessed with the “Mad Max” series. Words can’t do it justice, so there’s only one thing to say about “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” — go watch this in theaters.