Review of Mad Max 2 (1981) by James D — 28 Jan 2013

The first Mad Max was one of those movies that everyone seemed to love but I just never cared for (we all have movies like that). Its sequel, The Road Warrior, is no different. I've heard so much praise for this movie, even more than its predecessor, and when I'm asked what I think of it, I simply just shrug and say "I don't like it". And then it's pointless for me to try and explain myself because people will just ignore it.

But, I don't enjoy this movie. It just doesn't work with me. The limited amount of dialog kills me, and I get bored very quick. The action scenes, while plentiful, were never capable gathering my interest and instead just stumble along until the movie is over. None of the story is very interesting or unique either. I've seen the basic "lonely wanderer stumbles upon a town threatened by a gang and eventually saves it" story countless times before, and I've seen it done better countless times before. Also, the villains are very weak and their costumes are ridiculous. All this causes the movie to look like I could have made it in my high school video class with my lunch money for the week.

There are some things I do enjoy, believe it or not, and there's more things I enjoy in this one than the first. Mel Gibson is significantly cooler in his role and much improved in terms of acting (there is little dialog for him, however, so any weak acting he may show is limited). I also like the brief running time, which, like the first , makes it easier to sit through and quicker to finish.

So, The Road Warrior is just another one of the movies that I seem to be the odd one out with. The poor picture quality (even watching it in HD on TV a little while back, it still looked bad) sums up the entire film for me. It's a dull, lifeless 90 minute movie that bores more than entertains and is as sharp as a crayon after scribbling with it for 10 minutes.