I went in this movie with low expectations. I was hoping for a fun, lightweight popcorn movie that might creatively rip off similar movies. It turned out that it just ripped off similar movies. There were clever touches and some enjoyable attention to detail but those brisk moments of relief were too far apart.
The problems started for me in the beginning. All of the best films of this genre never had lengthy set ups. In Escape to New York, the president is caught and Snake is on his way in and that's all you really need to know. In the Road Warrior, Max just shows up out of nowhere right into the action. This movie had a long winded exposition by Malcom McDowell and a superfluous action scene aboard a ship.
The film had moments of potential, after the introduction of Sol and the final chase come to mind, but there was quite a bit of nothing going on in between. There were also more than a few clichés. About the only thing missing was a cat jumping out of the shadows.
It may have been intended as an homage to other movies of the genre but it's tributes only served to remind me of how these other films were much more superior and I ended up leaving the theater wanting to see The Road Warrior.
In fairness to the movie I probably did go in comparing it to these other post-apocalyptic films and maybe my expectations were actually higher than I originally thought but despite that it was still a pretty bland film.
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