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Nine years ago, "Mad Max: Fury Road" opened to acclaim that could have never been expected. After taking its first bow at Cannes, the movie opened in the early summer days of 2015 to steady and strong box office business. More surprisingly, it was met with widespread critical acclaim, thanks to its dazzling action, and somehow went against the grain to become a major Oscar contender (winning six statues on the night and arguably competitive for Best Picture). That level of success couldn't be ignored, so, of course, George Miller went back to the well with "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga."

Miller's new movie is a prequel about the character originated by Charlize Theron in "Fury Road." The movie charts her evolution from a young girl (played early in the movie by Alyla Browne) to a grown woman hell-bent on revenge (played by Anya Taylor-Joy). In fact, one of the narrative missteps of "Furiosa" is to saddle the first hour of the movie with Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), the man responsible for killing Furiosa's mother. Taylor-Joy doesn't enter the picture until an hour into the movie.

Furiosa gets tangled up in Dementus and Immortan Joe's (Lachy Hulme) nefarious deal-making, but her eyes are always set on exacting her revenge. She teams up with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) to help her fight off Dementus' band of misfits, who are trying to kill them.

Since the movie is an origin story, of course we are going to spend time in Furiosa's beginnings. But, for Taylor-Joy to enter the movie later and get swallowed up by everything around her is evidence of a movie without a focus. Theron stole the show in "Fury Road," but Hemsworth's hammy Dementus isn't compelling enough to justify stealing the spotlight. His prosthetic nose and constant babbling don't mesh with the otherwise dour "Furiosa."

"Fury Road" was a propulsive car chase through the desert and didn't waste any time getting to its destination. It's hard to replicate such a tightly constructed action movie, but Miller tries to copy-and-paste a lot of the style from his previous film. The style is undoubtedly inventive and original - from the production design to the costumes - but when the novelty isn't a factor, a movie can't rest of such laurels.

The action in "Furiosa" can be stunning to watch, especially on a giant IMAX screen, but the movie feels like we are watching Miller desperately attempt to make lightening strike twice. It's easy to be swept away by Miller and cinematographer Simon Duggan's grand vistas, but "Furiosa" becomes sluggish, even when the action is roaring. If "Fury Road" followed a straight line across the desert, "Furiosa" twists and turns and goes back-and-forth, which causes the movie to feel repetitive, and straining to expand the world Miller is attempting to grow.