Politics Reloaded

Nothing to do with Speed 1, although a reasonable film in its own right. A bit predictable when it gets underway

I was initially a bit worried about what this installment would be like, as the shorts made Hemsworth look a bit too larikin-blokey for my liking, however he provided a good balance between the serious warrior and the indifferent one. I felt the flow of the movie was really good. My only three gripes (and sorry to pick up the negatives) were there two scenes where Taylor-Joy was out sequence. The first stiff i[ was when she was standing on the road facing left - and then facing right when the shot cut back to her- and also when she stepped out of the Valiant look-alike outside the bullet factory. The second 'gripe' was that the CGI was overdone. It was actually done pretty well, but the shots from side vehicles lacked the realism of the original Mad Maxes. The last 'gripe' was that the scenes from the 2015 installment at the end were overdone. Oh, and there really was no Max in Mad Max.. However they were the only things. The rest of the story and 'feel' from 2015 was there - and I really thought Taylor-Joy did an exceptional job in the 'changing circumstances' she faced in the film. That's why I gave it five stars. Go and see it.

The fact this was directed by two Aussies explains why the Don Lane influence isn't just imagined. There was no Bert Newton but very much a James Randi in this as a supernatural phenomenon takes place in the studio. The wardrobe and settings were spot on for the late 70s and it was good to be reminded how ridiculously broad our shirt collars were. The performances of Rhys Auteri and Laura Gordon were really good. It was also great to see Fayssai Bazzi who I instantly recognised from The Merger. I did feel David Dastmalchian probably wasn't the right person for the job. He was a bit too wooden for most of the time: it must be difficult be an actor who needs to have both the stage presence of a presenter and someone reacting to other stuff like a human, but that was the job he had. I liked this movie although thought the cut down 2001: A Space Oddessy type ending didn't really work for me - although the finale did. Movies like this can really only end one of two ways - the devil wins with the usual head-twisting or you have a Mel Gibson coming out as the lone ranger - but far from it being and ending to spoil, I'd be interested to know what you think. I saw this at The Jam Factory which was quite cosy and actually a better venue than I thought it might be.