First Things First…
When I watched Mad Max last week, I was thrilled to find I liked it much better than the first time I watched it, about 10 years ago.
Well, of the original trilogy, Mad Max 2 is the only one I liked the first time I saw it. I don’t remember much about the plot, but I do remember there being a sick chase sequence near the end, and that the setting is even more post-apocalyptic.
4 Things I Like
4. The Feral Kid
“My life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember… a time of chaos. Ruined dreams, this wasted land. But most of all… I remember the Road Warrior. The man we called Max.”
The Feral Kid
When I saw “The Feral Kid” listed as one of the main characters in the opening credits, I assumed he’d be super annoying. But he’s fun, resourceful, useful, and honestly, kind of a beast. He’s quite literally a killer with a boomerang. And he saves Max’s ass when Max is on his salvage mission to get the truck. Without his quick thinking and uncanny howling, Max would’ve been caught, and the whole tribe would’ve been screwed.
What’s more, he’s mute throughout the movie, except for snarls and grunts. But he reveals himself at the end as the narrator from the opening of the film. And he says he went on to become the leader of their tribe.
This little guy feels right at home in the Mad Max world.
3. No Time for Small Talk
It’s amazing how little dialogue this movie has. This is visual storytelling at its finest. And that’s made easier because of this next point…
2. The Collapse of Society and the Colorful Villain Aesthetic
“You have defied me. You will know the vengeance of the Lord Humungus. I promise you, nobody… nobody… gets out of here alive.”
Lord Humungus
In whatever length of time has passed since the first movie, society has completely collapsed. We don’t see any police stations, hospitals, auto shops, or ice cream shops.
There is nothing except the Wasteland.
And that’s given rise to some colorful characters, like the original member of Demolition, Lord Humungus…
And his henchman, the psychotic, assless chaps-clad Wez, who he literally keeps on a leash.
Of course, Max’s all-black look is iconic, too.
Using so little dialogue is probably risky for most movies. But it works incredibly well here because everything, including the costumes, vehicles, and landscape, make this a visual feast.
1. Chasing Away the Sand
The final 20-ish minutes are absolute chaos as the good guys roll out. Max drives the truck with the oil tank while FK rides shotgun. Bullets fly, grappling hooks rip off car doors and limbs, and snakes and Molotov Cocktails fall from the sky.
It all culminates in a glorious conflagration when the Humungus uses enough NOS to make Dom Toretto proud and roars into a head-on collision that permanently disables the truck.
But there’s a twist, and even Max is duped. He doesn’t know he’s just a decoy.
I kept thinking that somehow, some way, he’d have to finally get away from the bad guys. But after the crash, Max is helpless to keep the truck from tipping over, nearly killing him, and spilling its load…
… which turns out to be sand, not oil.
He’s the perfect diversion while the rest of the community escape with full oil drums in their vehicles.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Max’s Treatment of the Gyro Captain
“You know what I miss most of all? Clean women. Nail polish, perfume… the smell of bicycle seats… cocktails… desserts. Lingerie. Oh, remember lingerie?”
The Gyro Captain
Maybe Max just can’t get over this guy wanting to steal gas from him when they first met, because he’s a dick to the gyro captain the whole movie.
Early on, Max makes him his prisoner, locks him in shackles, barely feeds him, and leaves him for dead. The poor guy is still in shackles when Max finds him again, but instead of finally freeing him, he forces him to carry the gas he’d been carrying to fuel up the abandoned truck.
On one hand, it’s kind of funny. It shows Max is a hardass you do not want to mess with. I get not wanting to make him too much of a hero.
But the captain comes to Max’s aid again and again. He even thinks of them as partners. In fact, he’s so heroic that he becomes the next leader of the tribe after their current leader is killed in the rollout.
There comes a point where Max goes from seeming like a guy who takes no shit, to coming off as cruel and sadistic. And when that’s aimed at someone who shows him undying—not to mention unearned—loyalty, it’s a bad look.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Max’s Escape Plan
I don’t blame Max at all for choosing not to drive the truck at first, as everyone was expecting/hoping he would, but to leave in his car. As he says, he held up his end of the bargain by risking his life to get the truck. And he already got screwed over by them once. Fact is, he shouldn’t have even had to make that deal.
So by all means, Max, leave. And don’t feel bad about it.
But what the hell? You know Humungus and his forces are right outside the gates. Couldn’t you have tried something else?
Like, anything? Besides just driving straight into them?
Tim Matassa
