Critics are calling 'Furiosa' one of the 'greatest prequels ever made' — but not better than 'Fury Road'

• "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" continues the franchise's high-octane action legacy.
• Critics praised the movie's stunts and performances, but said it doesn't surpass "Mad Max: Fury Road."

"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" marks the fifth movie in George Miller's high-octane action franchise.

Following the success of 2015's "Max Mad: Fury Road," which took in over $380 million at the worldwide box office, "Furiosa" tells the origin story of one of the main characters from "Fury Road," Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa.

"Furiosa" follows the title character, now played by Anya Taylor-Joy, over a 15-year span as she journeys into the Wasteland and ultimately becomes a badass War Rig driver.

Now that the movie has had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, here's what critics are saying about the movie, Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth's performances, and whether it's as good as the beloved "Fury Road."

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

Critics praised the movie's action sequences

The "Mad Max" franchise is known for its extreme stunts and action sequences, and critics say there are plenty more to enjoy in "Furiosa."

"The movie is teemingly, sprawlingly, phantasmagorically ambitious," wrote Variety critic Owen Gleiberman, adding that it "contains a handful of awesome action moments."

"The mammoth scale and vision of Miller continue to delight, and 'Furiosa' absolutely deserves to be seen as big and loud as possible, a feat of technical prowess and cinematic ambition that only comes along once every few years (if we're lucky!)," wrote Hannah Strong of Little White Lies.

Anya Taylor-Joy doesn't have a lot of dialogue, but that's not an issue

Taylor-Joy, the film's star, reportedly only has around 30 lines of dialogue in the movie, but the lead being mum shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who is a fan of the franchise. Mel Gibson, the original Mad Max, rarely spoke; same for Tom Hardy, who played Max in "Fury Road."

Critics say Taylor-Joy's lack of speech emphasizes her other qualities.

"[Taylor-Joy] is phenomenal," wrote John Nugent of Empire, "her big, intense eyes standing out starkly against her engine-oil-smeared forehead, emoting subtly in a dialogue-light role."

"The virtuosity of Miller's approach is so arresting that you might not even notice how seldom Furiosa actually speaks; like Charlize Theron before — or after? — her, Taylor-Joy conveys so much strength and desperation through the whites of her eyes alone that words would only cheapen the unparalleled purity of her purpose," wrote IndieWire's David Ehrlich.

Chris Hemsworth is impressive as the franchise's latest villain

Hemsworth plays the snarly bearded Warlord Dementus, the latest outlandish — and very buff — villain in the franchise.

"He's never had a villain showcase quite like this before, and what's so striking about it is how merciless it is; even with the occasional dropped hint at his tragic backstory, there's never a question of redemption for Dementus," wrote Liz Shannon Miller for Consequence. "It's genuinely fearless work."

One critic says it's one of the best prequels ever made

IndieWire's David Ehrlich called the movie "one of the greatest prequels ever made" in large part because the Furiosa character is so captivating.

"Furiosa is reborn as the rare film character who's become iconic twice over in two distinct (but inseparable) forms, and future generations will awe at the fact that 'Fury Road' came first," he wrote.

But it's not as good as "Fury Road"

For all the praise "Furiosa" is receiving, many critics believe it doesn't surpass Miller's thrilling opus, "Mad Max: Fury Road."

"'Furiosa' is a big step down from 'Mad Max: Fury Road,'" opined The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney. "Whereas the 2015 instant action classic had grit, gravitas and turbo-charged propulsion that wouldn't quit, this fifth installment in the dystopian saga grinds on in fits and starts, with little tension or fluidity in a narrative whose shapelessness is heightened by its pretentious chapter structure."

"Scene for scene, 'Furiosa' is very much a complement to 'Fury Road,' yet the new movie never fully pops the way the earlier one does," wrote Manohla Dargis of The New York Times.