For much of it's runtime, Mad Max is closer to that of a buddy cop revenge flick, a mix of the likes of Dirty Harry and Death Wish, as we see Max (Mel Gibson, unfortunately reminding me that he is very charismatic and talented when he's not beating women or spouting antisemitism) and his partner Goose (Steve Bisley) as they reckon with the vicious road gang of Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Burne). Goose, a fast-talking, snarky lech with a heart of gold, serves as the film's moral center for much of it's runtime, and his dynamic with the silent, thuggish Max is fun to watch. There's a strange sense of tenderness to much of this, both in Max and Goose's attempts to reckon with the wanton cruelty and death that unfolds before them and Max's quiet moments with his wife Jessie (Joanne Samuel). The latter scenes could easily have been cliched, a proto-example of the now classic "dead wife" trope that tends to fuel films of this kind, but Gibson and Samuel play it with a gentle familiarity. This is a couple that know each other better than anyone else, able to communicate with just simple looks and gestures, and Jessie is given enough to do on her own that she feels like a character in her own right.
This, of course, augments the inevitable tragedy as Toecutter's gang gets their revenge against the only ones willing to stand up to them, brutally torching Goose and running down Jessie while she holds Max's infant son. The revenge plot truly kicks off here, and it's genuinely exhilarating to watch Miller begin to hone his eye for action setpieces that would Fury Road and Furiosa some of the most thrilling genre fare of all time. The action sequences in Mad Max blend the line between a visceral "how did they do that and live?' realism and a more absurd, borderline slapstick in homage to the works of Buster Keaton. Vehicles move with a disorienting sense of motion, hurtling forward in the film's various chase scenes, and actors/stunt doubles are flung with reckless abandon from every impact. (As if to make the influences most clear, Toecutter's eyes bulge out of his skull moments before his car impacts a truck.) It's peak pulpy action, a perfect mix of making the hits hurt while still being willing to go larger than life in your actual execution.
Mad Max was something of a pleasant surprise upon rewatch. While hardly expecting it to be bad, I'd always treated this one as an odd duck in the series (alongside Beyond Thunderdome...but we'll get to that later probably). But there's a lot to love in this scrappy little revenge flick, from it's quiet worldbuilding to it's unexpectedly tender, grieving moments, and it's an undeniably excellent debut for a cinema legend.
