We return once again to Max (Mel Gibson) in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, at least a
decade since the events of Mad Max: The
Road Warrior. The world has officially gone to hell, it is hinted that a
nuclear bomb was the cause of this apocalyptic wasteland. After his camel-drawn
wagon is stolen, Max heads to Bartertown to try to retrieve it. However, with
no possessions to barter with Max offers a day of his life to trade, catching
the attention of Bartertown’s leader Aunty Entity (Tina Turner). Aunty offers
Max his vehicle and supplies, if he completes a task for her. However, Max
finds he cannot go through with the deal and is exiled to the desert, where he stumbles
across a green oasis populated by kids.
Mad Max:
Beyond Thunderdome begins strongly, as we follow Max across the desert as
the sun sits on the horizon, casting a muted orange glow to the brown sands
stretching out in front of him. Max joins the throng of people heading into
Bartertown and we can glimpse at the makeshift carts and wagons, forged out of
the remaining scraps of metal from the pre-apocalypse days. An eclectic mix of
Japanese style masks, feathers, leather and mohawks identifies Aunty Entity’s
henchmen. A steamy and rusty underground bio-energy plant named the Underworld
powers Bartertown above, using pig excrement as a renewable fuel source. The
Underworld is lorded over by Master-Blaster, a two-man team consisting of the
large bruiser Blaster (Paul Larsson) and the small genius Master (Angelo
Rossitto). The highlight of Mad Max:
Beyond Thunderdome is assuredly the fight between Max and his target in the
Thunderdome, a criss-crossing dome-shaped structure where the spectators can
scurry up and along to get a better view of the bloodshed within. Weapons
dangle above for the fighters to bungee towards, whilst avoiding being impaled
on the spikes dotted about in the interior. Beneath the veneer of civilisation,
people are still act barbaric and bloodthirsty. George Miller has an undeniably
talent for creating fascinating worlds within his Mad Max series through the production design.
However, George Miller still has some difficulties with
narrative and tone, which is most evident in the third instalment of Mad Max. As soon as Max encounters the
tribe of children and teenagers out in the desert, in the second act of the
film, the tone shifts noticeably. The children are straight out of Peter Pan, joyfully running to Max and mimicking
what he says. All the while, the scenes are filled with cheery music which
reminds me of films such as Hook. They
believe he is Captain Walker, an airline pilot who found this oasis after
crashing his plane. Walker left them behind to find civilisation and promised
to return. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
grinds to a halt as all this is explained to us before Max bursts their bubble
and informs them that he is not Captain Walker, and the real Walker is probably
at the bottom of a sinkhole. One of the members Savannah (Helen Buday) decides
she is going to go across the desert anyway to find civilisation. After
shooting around her, Max decides it is necessary to punch Savannah in the face
to knock her unconscious. Later, one of the kids dies in a sinkhole. It’s a
weird dissonance between these cheery naïve kids and the brutality of the
desert, that doesn’t really work nor achieve anything. Once we return back to
Bartertown, the film is back on track for a climatic chase sequence involving a
train, which is equally as good as the one in Mad Max: The Road Warrior as warriors jump from vehicle to vehicle.
Mad Max:
Beyond Thunderdome has some inventive production elements and the action
is top-notch, but it is still plagued by some odd tonal shifts.
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