Before Fury Road, I revisited the original Mad Max, and came away impressed:
Mad Max is a spoof, right? It’s only in this rewatch, many years after first seeing it, that I’ve realised what a send-up of ’70s exploitation action thrillers it is. But it’s an affectionate one, betraying George Miller’s genuine admiration for such films, and so well done it’s little wonder it came to be regarded as one of the key examples of a genre it’s mildly ribbing, if you look close enough.
Naturally I followed that up with Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior:
It’s the more generic post-apocalypse oil-punk fantasy elements that don’t click with me personally in what’s an otherwise well-made and beautifully shot film, and one that, while a very different film, is a natural successor to its (still superior) predecessor.
Perhaps I was primed to expect more than I received from Mad Max: Fury Road:
Think the original three Mad Max movies (well, maybe not the first one) crossed with the Borderlands video game series and that’s pretty much Fury Road. It didn’t blow me away, and it kind of splutters to a conclusion in the final reel, but I didn’t go away disappointed. The rest of you will probably love the shit out of it, so don’t mind me.