Film Review: The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)

"In this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed... men like Max... the warrior Max. In the roar of an engine, he lost everything... and became a shell of a man... a burnt-out, desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland. And it was here, in this blighted place, that he learned to live again." - Harold Baigent
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In another time, Max Rockatansky was a cop who watched his wife and son brutally run down by violent bikers in a world that kept getting madder and madder. After crossing the threshold of sanity and becoming "Mad Max," the world has now become a desolate wasteland, taken over by motor gangs who pillage and plunder the innocent, forever searching for gasoline to keep them going. Once again, Max is forced to match their brutality with his own.

The Road Warrior is best remembered for painting a vivid and hard-edged vision of the future, where bandits are leather-bound psychopaths who drive around in inventively-scrappy buggies and bikes. These are just a few of the details that ordains the film; the picture is filled with an incredible amount of detail that makes the post-apocalyptic wasteland look real and threatening. In this setting, the film tracks the reluctant hero Max as he confronts bandits, struggles to gain trust, and ultimately gives into a frantic escape plan. The film builds up to a memorable and well-crafted chase scene, in which a whole group of crazy vehicles run after a fortified rig. There are explosive crashes, brutal lashes of violence, and plenty of imagination to behold in this adventurous film.

The film presents its story as a kind of myth, romanticizing Max as a heroic drifter who breezes through and does what he has to. Like so many other heroes of this type, he is a reluctant one, who starts off with selfish intentions, but circumstances cause him to risk everything for the greater good. Thus, Max transforms from an antihero to a more classic form of hero, and his journey makes the film most endearing. The story advances smoothly from beginning to end with minimal drag, culminating in a satisfying climax.
This film boasts decent photography and good editing. Mel Gibson exhibits decent machismo as Max, and everybody else provides decent performances. Writing is good. This production uses very detailed and very real-looking sets, props, costumes, and locales. Music is good too.

Although the first Mad Max film has its share of action and style, The Road Warrior is the film that paints the most definitive picture of a post-apocalyptic world - complete with fantastic chase scenes - and it defines Max as a hero we can root for.

4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)