--- title: "Mad Max 2: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/mad-max-2/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/mad-max-2" critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Mad Max 2 (1981): what the critics said Critics' score 81 from 10 reviews: 9 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are almost uniformly positive, and the praise gathers in one place: the action. Critics single out the sustained closing chase, the stunt work and the vehicle choreography, with several naming that final sequence among the best of its kind. The photography and editing draw repeated notice, as does the pace, which most describe as relentless without becoming shapeless. A clear majority also rank it above the first film, and several call it the strongest entry in the series. The reservations cluster around what sits underneath the spectacle. Most critics accept that the plot is slight; a few count it against the film. The New Yorker calls it visually terrific but joyless and short of real resonance, and Slant finds it conventional in spirit next to the original. Empire has doubts about Gibson’s charisma while crediting Miller’s set pieces with making up the difference. The spread is narrow: nine positive, one mixed, none negative. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1981. The film is pure kinetic action with the barest plot, a skillful and exhilarating (if sometimes disgusting) experience like no other. Ebert singles out the sustained final chase sequence as one of the great modern action set pieces, comparable to classics like The General. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mad-max-2-the-road-warrior-1981) ## The Guardian — Luke Buckmaster Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 July 2014. The critic calls Mad Max 2 vastly superior to the first film and the jewel in the trilogy’s crown. They single out its cyclonic energy in moving images, characters and set pieces, plus the epic chase sequences directed with galling flair. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/jul/25/mad-max-2-the-road-warrior-hell-for-leather-roadside-anarchy) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1980. The uncomplicated plot leads to a dazzling demolition derby climax with fine stunt work, special effects, and cyclonic direction. The review highlights the photography, tight editing, and stirring music in this high-energy Australian action film. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1980/film/reviews/mad-max-2-1200424947/) ## Time Out — DP Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 July 2014. The film presents a post-industrial future where motorised warlords fight over fuel, with Max encountering an oil fortress under siege by biker barbarians. Its simple plot draws from comic-strip machismo and is sustained by humour and exceptional visual energy, particularly the extraordinary vehicle choreography. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mad-max-2-the-road-warrior) ## Empire — Bob McCabe Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film is an all-out stuntfest with minimal plot, as nomads hunt for gasoline in a post-apocalyptic world. Gibson is uncharismatic but Miller compensates with whizz-bang action sequences. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/mad-max-2-review/) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 June 2013. The critic calls The Road Warrior the best in the series as a poetic action sonata rich in beautifully composed wide shots and an inventive climax, but finds it disappointingly conventional in spirit compared to the original Mad Max. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/mad-max-trilogy/) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 1982. The Road Warrior is an intense, amazing piece of taut, visually terrific junk food with distinctive editing and a mutant blend of action genres. Kael praises the visual style and chase but finds it joyless, abstract, and lacking real resonance or fun. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1982/09/06/1982-09-06-096-tny-cards-000340613) ## Collider — Dave Trumbore Rating A. 7 May 2015. The critic praises the film's grander action sequences and epic Western-inspired storytelling as an improvement over the original, singling out the legendary tanker chase as one of cinema's best. [Read the review](https://collider.com/mad-max-2-the-road-warrior-review/) ## Digital Spy — Ben Rawson-Jones Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 May 2015. The re-view praises the sequel for making everything bigger, bolder and bloodier than the first film while reversing Max's arc to gradually restore his humanity through subtle performance and visceral action that still holds up decades later. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/re-viewed/a650066/re-viewed-mad-max-2-the-road-warrior-bigger-bolder-bloodier/) ## Den of Geek — Joe George Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 August 2024. The critic ranks Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior as the second-best entry in the franchise, praising how it fully immerses Max in the wasteland and realizes its fallen world with memorable villains and a narrator framing him as a folk hero. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-mad-max-and-furiosa-movies-ranked/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/mad-max-2.md