George Miller expanding the canvas in ways filmmakers can only dream of as he and his merry crew return to the Mad Max universe for an expansive, rich, and poignant prequel many years in development..

Anya Taylor-Joy is a truly seamless road warrior in the making as she embarks on an odyssey of self discovery and revenge whilst Chris Hemsworth is having the absolute time of his life as the man possibly most responsible for her transformation.

As a Mad Max film, the hard turn away from full throttle action tale to poetic fantasy epic might let some fans down some. But the opportunity to enhance the Fury Road experience with this level of world building is truly a marvel to behold. This is the creative bible from which Fury Road was borne.

For me, the most exciting point of evolution for Miller with FURIOSA is the reckoning with the entire motivations behind the entire series' characters as fundamentally broken, hollow people incapable of ever reclaiming their missing parts. In plain text, this one makes it clear in a way that transcends cinema and brings us right back to intimate stage theatrics.

In no uncertain terms, Miller is even calling into question the exploitation impulses that granted him success in '79.

The Toecutter, can never have what he wants.

Lord Humungus, can never have what he wants.

Aunty Entity can come close, but never have what she wants.

Dementus, can never have what he wants.

The People Eater, can never have what he wants.

Bullet Farmer, can never have what he wants.

Immortan Joe, nor his family can never have what they want.

Furiosa, and Max might be able to find some fleeting form of redemption, but what's lost is lost.

And for me, that is what has always spoken to me about these films - grappling with loss, and the temptation to either become an island, avoiding everyone and everything, or be consumed by everything in vain attempts to quell the emptiness. True apocalypse.

In a cinema environment like we have today, it is increasingly unlikely we'll ever have action spectacle as grand, transporting, and beautiful like FURIOSA(2024) ever again.