Filmikaze!

By: George Miller (director, story), Byron Kennedy (story)

Starring: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Roger Ward

In a dystopic future Australia, a vicious biker gang murder a cop’s family and make his fight with them personal.

While my schedule doesn’t always allow for it, it’s usually a good thing when I give myself at least an hour or so to chew on a movie before writing my review. I’ve been pondering Mad Max for almost two hours now, and I still don’t know what the hell I think of it.

If you’ve not seen it, Mad Max is a reinterpretation of the classic Western genre set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian Australian future. The last shards of the government are weak, including the police force, of which our hero is a part. It’s the classic “gangs terrorizing the townsfolk” theme, but with motorcycles.

I don’t mind watching low-budget films. You generally know going in that the production was limited by its own cost, so you can forgive that the aesthetics aren’t as polished as something coming out of Hollywood. The production value in Mad Max is pretty much for shit, but that’s not my issue with it. The film is ridiculously heavy-handed, but isn’t that what it should be? I still can’t decide whether it’s farcical in parts or just over the top, because make no mistake, it’s definitely excessive regardless.

My understanding is that the first sequel is the true gem in the franchise, so I’ll have to watch that one soon and see.