Mad Max prequel Furiosa fires up the hype train with first reactions calling it everything from a "visceral triumph" to "action filmmaking at its absolute best"

The first Furiosa reactions are in – and the hype train for the Mad Max prequel, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne as younger versions of the titular character, is well and truly up and running.

"George Miller’s #Furiosa is powerhouse action filmmaking at its absolute best!" Fandango’s Erik Davis wrote. "A ferocious & relentlessly paced epic that expands the story of Furiosa and the Wasteland while delivering the craziest chases, the most bombastic characters & just plain stunning cinematography."

Critic John Nguyen remarked that Furiosa is "2-and-a-half hours of colorful mayhem… It's one of the most brutal Mad Max films yet."

"Furiosa is a visceral triumph," Heroes Unbound wrote. "An epic trip through Miller's scorched wasteland that spans decades. The emotional journey is intimately personal and deeply moving. Action is ferocious, wild and unrelenting."

Others – including Nick’s Flicks Fix – found time to praise Chris Hemsworth for his turn as the villainous wasteland warlord Dementus, while David Ehrlich’s appraisal noted that it’s in a "different gear" to Fury Road but manages to make George Miller’s 2015 Mad Max masterpiece "even richer."

Simon Thompson’s verdict was similarly effusive, stating, "Jesus George Miller! #Furiosa engulfs you. At times it almost seems to exceed the canvas of the #IMAX format it is THAT big - and yet at times has a deeply affecting intimacy. Echoing cinematic elements from the 50s through the 80s, it’s a rich, smart vision the cast revels in."

Furiosa, which has been given an R Rating for "sequences of violence and grisly images”, is set to feature a 15-minute action sequence that took 200 stunt people over two months to shoot.

"George and I would have these big conversations about why this particular set-piece was so long," Anya Taylor-Joy told Total Film. "It’s because you see an accumulation of skills over the course of a battle, and that’s very important for understanding how resourceful Furiosa is, but also her grit. It’s the longest sequence any of us have ever shot."

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is released on May 24. For more, check out the upcoming movies coming your way very soon.