Review of Mad Max 2 (1981) by Johnny T — 29 May 2015
An all-action movie that delivers all the violence and entertainment you could want. Never has a film's vision of the post-nuclear-holocaust world seemed quite as desolate and as brutal, or as action-packed and sometimes as funny as in George Miller's apocalyptic The Road Warrior, an extravagant film fantasy that looks like a sadomasochistic comic book come to life. The Road Warrior is everything a bigger-budgeted Mad Max sequel with should be: bigger, faster, louder, but definitely not dumber. Miller doesn't take his foot off the accelerator for a second, and the ingeniously designed and staged road action is stunning. Director Miller keeps the pic moving with cyclonic force, photography by Dean Semler is first class, editing is supertight, and Brian May's music is stirring. For pure rhythm and visual panache, Miller has few real competitors; the climactic chase, with its deft variation of tempo and point of view, is a minor masterpiece. A film of pure action, of kinetic energy organized around the barest possible bones of a plot. The Road Warrior isn't Citizen Kane, but it has a lot of things -- power, speed, brains and energy -- in massive quantities and at a high degree of quality that many films can only dream of. The sets, costumes, makeup, special effects and stunts are all first-rate, as is Gibson's performance.
VERDICT: "High-Quality Stuff" - [Positive Reaction] This is a rating to a movie I view as very entertaining and well made, and definitely worth paying the full price at a theatre to see or own on DVD. It is not perfect, but it is definitely excellent... (Films that are rated 3.5 or 4 stars).
This review of Mad Max 2 (1981) was written by Johnny T on 29 May 2015.
Mad Max 2 has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
