Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981) Review

It's time to continue on with our Australian epic! So it would appear that the first film flew completly under the radar and Hollywood completely missed it. Australia decided to try and grab their attention with this sequel under the name The Road Warrior. It did significantly better in the box office than the previous film but this isn't a guarantee of quality. I mean, come on, Scary MoVie is number one for weeks (thankfully Star Trek Into Darkness and Iron Man 3 are at the top where they belong). So let's see if this truly deserving of it's...I say success but....eh..

Max (Mel Gibson) is now a lonely traveller who now lives on the roads. He begins to run out of gasoline for his car and finds a gyrocopter unattended. Turns out it's a trap and the pilot (Bruce Spence) tries to scare Max off. Max manages turn the situation around and gains the upper hand  He takes the pilot hostage who pleas to get him go if he shows him where to get fuel. The two venture out and find a community kept under the fear of a street gang led by The Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). Max agrees to help the community for some fuel in return. 

I know some will disagree, but I personally prefer this film to the first one. When I think Mad Max, this is the film I think of. This is the high speed road action that you've been wanting (I can assume, unless you don't then that's fine too). There is also less time spent trying to develop characters as Max is, of course, continuing his character from the first film while newer characters are introduced effectively. This film has much more enjoyable characters such as the Pilot (he's my personal favouite) and even the villain The Humungus is engaging (although the knowledge of an unused twist might help this),

Some people may have problems with the pace of the film. It's a bit erratic as it seems to put Max and the pilot into the town very quickly but they stay there for a while until they leave again...and then go back almost instantly. It doesn't offer much variety but the entire final sequence makes up for the whole thing. I love the last scene of the film because it shows what Mad Max should be about and leads to an excellent twist that sets the mood for the series (two twists technically but the second isn't as good).

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is a better film than a original as a result of a more clear focus, better characters and is an all around more engaging film. It's no where near perfect as it still retains that cheap feel that the first one had but that's definetly part of the charm of this franchise. I hope to see more good things from this series...I mean, it's not like there's a third one or anything! ....ohhhhhhhh.....crap....

Verdict:
7/10
Great characters and an engaging plot line help drive a film with some pacing issues and other little problems.