Mad Max review

The good: excellent action sequences despite tight budget; a solid story told through action; Max is an excellent anti-hero and a rather relatable protagonist; appealing apocalypse setting; an effective soundtrack The bad: feels a little slow and muddled a few times; supporting characters --while likable and recognizable-- feel somewhat neglected;

George Miller is a name that should be far more familiar and respected nowadays; this Australian genius of a director is the man responsible for several highly acclaimed or popular and successful creations, including Lorenzo's Oil, Babe, the Academy Award winner Happy Feet. However, he will forever be best known for his Mad Max series, but before he directed 1981's The Road Warrior and 2015's heavily acclaimed Fury Road, Miller's career all began with this small and comparatively short and tamed prequel.

Without a sense of doubt, Mad Max's most notable features are its surprisingly entertaining and meaningful actions sequences spread through the movie; while there are not that many you'd expect from the precursor of multiple legendary action titles, those present are extremely well-done, very exciting, bold and brutal, ranging from the opening chase scene of the Nightrider (played by Vincent Gil) to the rather tamed and subtle, perfectly cold endgame of the movie. And all that is even more impressive given the relatively small budget Miller's project had.

The action in Mad Max (almost wrote Max Payne there...) is not only for the eye-candy; it is Miller's way of storytelling to tell Max's quest through actions -- more often than not brutal -- than words, and indeed, this leads to a solid plot well-crafted to give shape and character to its lead protagonist, Max. It's a somewhat simple story that doesn't require too much effort to understand, but it's an emotionally powerful tale, one that deals with revenge, loss, inhumanity and survival.

Speaking of Max, played by the then-unknown Mel Gibson, he is an excellent choice for the main character of such type of film; he is brutal, violent, ruthless and vengeful, but also sensitive, heroic, brave and intelligent in addition to being a loving family man and a caring friend to his associates. A cop working on the highway to stop violent and psychotic bikers who threaten the Australian wasteland, his greatest fear as the world around him crumbles is that he'll turn into the monster he is fighting with, becoming more ruthless and reckless as time goes on and the blade above his family and friends sinks lower.

Max' world is an excellent setting as well, ruled by violence and hatred where heroes fall to their darkness with little chances to go back to the right side. The apocalypse is building itself slowly as crime increases and the law becomes tainted with morally-damaged individuals. The apocalyptic setting in Mad Max is ain't as obvious as ones featured in many other works; you can clearly see it has only started, and feels more like a dystopian film than an apocalyptic one; there are still many strings of hope and morality to be held, although the film makes you know the future is rather bleak.