The original _Mad Max_ is pretty easy to boil down to an essence: fast motorcycles, rusty weapons, loud cars and bald revenge. For most of the story, we see Max as the cool, composed vendor of justice; a man who hasn't yet learned to discard the establishment in an increasingly turbulent world. He patrols a gang-plagued war zone, essentially a sleepwalking child, thoroughly unprepared for the foundational shock he's about to endure. Most of that pathos is left to the audience's subconscious, since so much of the running time is devoted to hostile moments of anarchy and long, noisy highway scenes with violent ends.

First-time writer/director George Miller hasn't entirely fleshed out Max's world - this landscape is more rural homestead and less dystopian hellscape - and his skills as a filmmaker are still nascent. In fact, this installment frequently reminds me of the first _Evil Dead_, in that it's more of a unique, genre-driven learning experience than an objectively good, well-realized standalone film. Pacing is a major problem. Despite all the roaring engines and ballooning fireballs, it's downright boring at points, struggling to tie the crazy action to the more grounded, human transformation of its troubled lead. Frequent continuity errors are distracting, too, like how Max's young family completely forgets they have a child when it's not convenient. And, for all the build to their inevitable collision, the climactic conflict between anti-hero and big bad is basically just treated like a footnote. Max doesn't even flinch, he just moves on to the next guy. Just like I think I should do with this franchise.