Before Mel Gibson wacked out and fell down the the same right wing extremist Catholic anti-Semitic rabbit hole as his father, he did some pretty cool shit. There is absolutely no denying Braveheart for the monumental epic it was. Broadly drawn, excellent development of characters who exist almost completely in the oral tradition. They are almost mythic in nature. A well told, expertly crafted film that embraces much of the best of the genre. His last turn as the villain in Robert Rodriguez Machete Kills was spot on, all wild eyed and super villain verbosity. We can forgive him the Lethal Weapon series, because he had so much fun. Going back a few years two other historical docudramas were standouts, Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously. Both were great scripts that had great stories to tell. WW1 and the fall of Sukarno in Indonesia provide a great canvas that allowed great broad dramatic strokes. Which brings me to the Jewels in Mels thorny crown. The untouchable genius trilogy from George Miller, The Mad Max saga. Now these movies I like, how could one not? Mad Max gives us a crumbling not quite post apocalyptic world with a motorcycle gang with members with names like Toecutter, Mudguts and Glunk, who murder Maxs partner, wife and baby in retaliation for the killing of their leader. Max Rockatansky, a highway cop patrolling the back roads of Australia as society breaks down, is drawn into a quest for vengeance that takes him to the edge of oblivion. Setting the stage for Chapter 2. It must be noted that when released, Mad Max was dubbed in un-Aussie accented English, the producers thought Aussie was too harsh on the ears of the rest of the English speaking world. Road Warrior gives us a Max who while not still a cop, is still infused not only with a strong instinct for self survival but also imbued with loyalty and a full on sense of duty. Max goes up against an almost feral army of evil almost suggested cannibalistic sub human warriors, who wear masks,feathers,war paint and leather armor. While skirmishing with them while searching for gasoline, Max comes across a last vestige of society, in a group of survivors living in a makeshift fort protecting a supply of gasoline. Max hooks up with them and does battle with the masked Humungus and his minions led my the Mohawk topped Wez. Much violence ensues and Max helps the small pocket of relative civilization survive. Max basically rides off into the sunset that is Chapter 3. In Beyond Thunderdome, Max comes to a desert town run by the evil queen Auntie Entity, well, in reality whoever controls the pig shit production controls Bartertown. Is the boss Auntie or the minuscule Master, the Lord of the Pig Shit underground and the source of methane which powers Bartertown. Order in Bartertown is kept by the threat of doing gladiatorial battle in Thunderdome. Two men enter! One man leaves! Max is sentenced to the dome, where after doing battle, he is exiled into the desert wasteland where he is rescued and finds true redemption among a tribe of children, survivors of a plane crash during the dawn of the apocalypse. The children share an oral history that they draw from their memories pre and post crash. Max becomes the savior of the tribe while fending off Auntie and her hordes, and puts the kids on the road to survival and a new life. Max rides on into whatever tomorrow may bring. A worthy project to hang a career on, Good on ya, Mel.
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 03:55:01 +0000
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