Memorial Day Weekend sees the return of George Miller to theaters with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth — continuing his post-apocalyptic sci-fi action saga in what is technically the series’ 5th installment and a reboot for anyone starting fresh or who loved that stunning work in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — from cowriter-director George Miller and cowriter Nico Lathouris — starts production this month in Australia, with a budget similarly dialed up compared to its predecessor Fury Road but still at muscle-bound levels reminiscent of the bigger-budgeted road warriors.

Starter The Fall Guy, got flattened and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes might not even crack $400 million total, topping out around maybe $320m worldwide. The family fantasy release If is also underperforming, as is biopic Back to Black.

But now it looks like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is also likely underperform, notably below those projected $40-45 million domestic figures before summer starts. As it stands, Furiosa looks to close Memorial weekend with a bit over $30 million Stateside.

If those elusive foreign grosses find some way to turn this one loose and Furiosa suddenly pops up on the want-to-see slate of legions of out-of-nowhere consumers eager to pay top dollar for theatre tickets, then I’ll shut my yap! Maybe a PG-13 rating would’ve helped, but then again this is the first film in the franchise in 9 years (2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road wasn’t exactly a box office smash to would-be blockbusters despite its rave reviews).

Last year, after all, a period biopic about a scientist went R-rated and became a nearly billion-dollar summer blockbuster (Oppenheimer), so there’s only so far down that road we can travel in terms of why this particular Furiosa isn’t resonating with audiences.

That Furiosa B+ Cinemascore also suggests mixed audience reactions from here which is never a good thing for word of mouth on any movie that starts this soft, with such low awareness and interest going in.

Which is such a shame, as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a layered and compelling character tale with an engaging, pulse-pounding plot packed full of great action set pieces and crowd-pleasing beats.

With this, Furiosa is a more than admirable follow-up to Fury Road that’s every bit as swift and visceral but with a pleasantly nuanced narrative, extra smaller subplots for supporting characters, the (long-awaited) introduction of the world pre-End Times, and just enough self-aware satire to have it feel simultaneously in line with what one would rightfully expect from another entry into the Mad Max canon while also presenting itself as an entirely different beast in said universe.

Mad Max: Furiosa, the subtitle of a new chapter in the cinematic universe begun with Fury Road, its announced title suggests that Furiosa will follow suit as another served thumbnail for everything that came before and after. Now we get to see George Miller at his absulote top, which is great since he was already peak before this deacde. This sure-to-be game changer in the blockbuster space shows just how different Furiosa is from other monumental works this year, like Part II of Dune; ambition and audacity seep out at every turn. Miller has not only caught lightning in a bottle again, but he has poured some of that lightning into our collective veins.

The cast is fantastic, especially Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa. Which, obviously, is a blast but looks like child’s play compared to what Joy Taylor would bring to the title role instead of Fury Road and may not have been thrilled to hear that Theron most likely wouldn’t return—but again: origin story—so it was hard to be too mad at her. It seems that you are looking at the same character, and it is never distracting — especially thanks to a fantastic performance by Ayena Browne as a much younger Furiosa.

One thing I had assumed was going to bug me would Chris Hemsworth’s make up…(I can only presume it is to not look like his pretty boy self?) So holy cow what a revelation he is in the role, that you truly won’t even be able to either notice or care. Similarly so does the rest of the cast, exceeding more than you are used to from genres.