Imaginative armored transportation lines up in formation within dystopian deserts of such epic expanse that it truly feels like the wasteland of a vast apocalypse, but there are few characters to care much about aboard or in sight in George Miller’s perfunctory prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (C-). The visionary filmmaker establishes a world brimming with vehicles and vistas and even some quirky ensemble members but no real reason to root. This epic spectacle is ostensibly about the making of a warrior, kidnapped as a child by bikers and played in this installment for most of the film’s duration by Anya Taylor-Joy, whose artsy quirk doesn’t fully translate into believability as the future Cherize Theron character of Fury Road or as an action star in command of this realm. Plus she’s given very few lines. She and fellow thespian Tom Burke feel at odds with and adrift in the material. Chris Hemsworth has all the subtlety of a wrestling heel as a would-be antagonist, but at least he’s the one principal here giving a performance at the same decibel as the spectacle. It’s all an elaborate excuse for one really big chase involving a truck of antiheroes, motorcycles of henchmen sliding around or below and what appear to be pesky parasailers. The stunts, action and practical effects in this particular sequence are impeccably impressive; other moments throughout this plodding backstory feel choppy and underbaked. It’s easy to confuse mastery of visual composition and aspects of the film craft with high marks for the movie itself as story or entertainment, but this installment is unfortunately a non-engaging bore with punks who never gather their steam.