You need to watch the most badass post-apocalypse movie on HBO Max ASAP

A good action movie is a delicate act of spinning plates. There needs to be a cohesive plot to engage the viewer, but also high-octane action sequences to raise the heart rate. Viewers need to feel euphoria, but without moments of pathos too, they won’t care about the hero.

nineteen eighty one Crazy Max 2 hook those plates up to a V8 engine and pump it full of nitrous. Nothing is foreign, every element looks original, and every performance is increased by up to 110%. There’s a reason this film transformed its source material from a cult hit into a classic sci-fi franchise.

Released in the United States as road warrior, it is the direct sequel to madmax it’s superior in just about every way. Director George Miller told the New York Times the motivation to review the madmax world was the reinvention. “‘Manufacturing madmax was a very unfortunate experience for me,” he said. “I had absolutely no control over the final product, it was just ripped out of my hands. But, to my surprise, it was successful everywhere except the United States and Canada. do a sequel, and I felt we could do a better job with a second film.

The film begins with an ethereal prologue establishing the world we left behind in the first film. A voice speaks over a montage of clips, establishing Max as a character. “I remember a time of chaos, of ruined dreams, of this wasteland,” he says. “But most of all, I remember the road warrior, the man we called Max.”

This narration gives the whole film a mythical tone, like an oral history told from generation to generation. Max fits the form of a Homeric hero, wandering the desert and acting partly in his own interest, but partly out of honor. The movie hits all the story beats you’d expect, but with enough action and gore to never feel tired.

The plot follows Max as he stumbles upon a colony of survivors refining their own fuel, the post-apocalyptic wasteland’s most valuable commodity. With the help of an ultralight helicopter pilot, Max helps the community find refuge in the north despite a biker gang led by a masked villain known as Humongus seeking to destroy them.

There is not a single piece of fat in this film. From the first shot to the last, every sequence is necessary, whether for plot or just to look cool. There are enough explosions to make you feel the temperature rise in your living room, and enough car chases to make The fast and the furious look like an independent film.

Despite the onslaught of sleek action, the characters still feel real. Yes, they are campy, but in a mythical way. Max is heroic in the most distilled form of heroism, the epitome of the wandering warrior. The film is not told from his point of view, but from the point of view of those who have seen it. He’s not the kind of man who tells his adventures. What really matters is how his presence affected those he helped. And if that means he’s portrayed as the ultimate hero, then that’s how strong the memory of him is.

Mad Max 2: Road Warrior diffuse on HBO Max until April 30.