When Mad Max: Fury Road came out in 2015, it became one of the biggest successes of that year for a variety of reasons, most notably for its stunts and cinematography. It also included several indelible new characters, chief among them being Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), a woman with a mechanical arm who betrays the film’s villain, Immortan Joe, and goes on the run with Max and a group of female prisoners.

Writer/director George Miller clearly became enamored with that character, too, as he’s now based a prequel film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, around her origin story. Played as a young adult by Anya Taylor-Joy, the film actually begins in her childhood when Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is kidnapped by Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and his gang, who are living on the margins of the wasteland society, seeking resources wherever and however they can find them.

This leads to run-ins with Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who rules over The Citadel, a rare oasis in the desert. Furiosa herself becomes a commodity to be traded between the two groups, with her scrappiness and inventiveness proving to be an asset on many occasions. Still hoping to make it back to her home, which she dubs “The Green Place,” Furiosa spends years planning her escape while fighting for survival alongside all the other desert dwellers.

Co-written by Fury Road co-writer Nick Lathouris, the film is broken up into five chapters, each of which last for roughly 30-40 minutes. It tracks Furiosa’s progression as she adapts to her new life, with each step demonstrating what a fierce fighter she is. No matter what obstacle is put in front of her – and there are plenty of them – Furiosa finds a way to show that she is no mere weakling that others can use as they will. Both Taylor-Joy and Browne give performances that prove to be worthy of the legacy that Theron started.

While her story is relatively clear-cut, it might take a second viewing to suss out what’s happening with everyone else. Dr. Dementus makes for great new character, but his exact goals – other than domination of this particular world – aren’t well-defined. The domain of Immortan Joe – aided by his ridiculously-named sons Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones) and Scrotus (Josh Helman), as well as his pale army of War Boys – remains distinctive from the first film, but that has the unfortunate side effect of not seeming as original the second time around.

Also suffering by comparison are the film’s chase/action scenes. The last film wowed with its spectacular set-pieces that had stunt actors flying all over the place, and while Furiosa contains its fair share of similar scenes, they either feel like retreads or just not as impressive. There’s no real way to quantify it, but the use of CGI to accomplish certain stunts seems to have been increased significantly, taking away from the sequences’ eye-popping nature. The best part of the scenes is the endlessly inventive vehicles the characters use to travel around the landscape.

Taylor-Joy is not quite the presence that Theron is, but she brings her own take to the role. Her most notable feature – her large eyes – are highlighted often while her face is otherwise covered, and her expressiveness with them speaks volumes even when her character doesn’t talk as much. Hemsworth – with the aid of a prosthetic nose – is the revelation of the film, shedding the persona of Thor from the MCU films to become a legitimately frightening villain.

Even if the film doesn’t have the surprise factor that Fury Road did, Furiosa still manages to be sufficiently entertaining for a summer blockbuster, mostly thanks to its compelling characters. The stakes may not be fully understandable, but the action and humor that Miller provides is more than enough to forgive any storytelling woes.

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