PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES

More filmmakers — particularly those working in the muted tones of dystopian fiction — should study the George Miller playbook.

The director behind the longrunning “Mad Max” series knows how to depict desperate situations in movies that remain fundamentally enjoyable. He can do fun without losing significance; he can do spectacle without relying on digitally rendered visual soup. He depicts bizarre and off-putting creations without making them loathsome or unpleasant.

He has found, and continues to find, popcorn in the wasteland.

The latest chapter in his unending exploration of Australian oblivion, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” serves as a prequel to the series’ high point, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the 2015 masterpiece that won six Oscars (and should’ve won more). Both the reputation of its predecessor and the nine-year gap between films have raised expectations for “Furiosa,” which stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne as younger versions of the titular heroine.

We meet Furiosa as a daring child. Miller grants her a moment or two to enjoy the abundance of the Green Place (an oasis of plenty in the midst of the post-nuclear desert) before she’s kidnapped by scavengers; the motley motorcyclists take her to a camp run by Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), a small-time world with dreams of power.

Dementus wants to find the Green Place, but he’s quickly distracted by a bigger goal: conquering the Citadel, the center of power and home to the tyrannical Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).

A power struggle will leave Furiosa as a resident of the Citadel, looking for an angle on freedom and revenge for a half-dozen wrongs committed against her as a child. We know how some of that will turn out via “Fury Road,” and we’ll learn more specifics about the stoic character here.

As visually sumptuous and action-packed as “Furiosa” is, it lacks structure, playing out like a collection of scenes rather than a cohesive story. (The film is divided into chapters, each illustrating a key moment in the character’s life.) These vignettes are rich in detail; Miller knows everything about the mythology he’s created and is adept at sprinkling in facts and phrases in an intriguing way. Still, the film struggles to find its rhythm; it has a clear climax at the halfway point, with more than an hour of film to go.

Such literary concerns are no great loss, however, in the face of a powerful and sublimely cinematic vision. It has become a cliche (and an increasingly pained plea) to say that this film or that must be seen in the theater to be truly experienced; with “Furiosa,” that’s undoubtedly true. This is a creation for giant screens and stunned faces pointed upward.

My Rating: 8/10

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is now playing in theaters.