Max Payne

We know that Mark Wahlberg refused to play Rockstar's "Max Payne" game before performing in this film, but, in addition, I must assume that neither the director nor the screenwriter ever played this game before, either. If there weren't so many shots of the background scenery that tied in with the game (although they were never fully or, in some cases, partially explored), I would assume that no one involved in the movie had even seen cut scenes from the game. I would have assumed that they got a one paragraph synopsis on the game, with character names, and just made up their own story that barely connected to the game storyline.

When this movie was made for a "PG-13" rating instead of an "R" rating, most of the fans were nervous. And, after seeing the train wreck this film became, it's clear to see that our worst fears were realized. Worse even than whether this works as a movie adaptation of a video game is whether this film would works as a movie if you have no knowledge of the video game. Unfortunately, if you went to see this film looking for an action flick, you would say that this was one of the most boring, yawn-inducing films you'd seen in the action genre.

The lack of narration throughout this film, the lack of a solid action director like John Woo (who knows how to do slow-mo), and the lack of anyone from the Rockstar team helping with screen writing added up to what can only be described as a hollow, dull film that has virtually no tie to the amazing game that spawned it. The studio system strikes again.

Luckily for me, I'm not a gamer and therefor not familiar with the game series the movie is based on, so I'm unable to compare.

Max Payne's wife and kid were brutally murdered, and the killer was never found. Max (Mark Wahlberg) is unable to let go and is still in search of the killer. Shortly after meeting Natasha at a party, Max becomes a suspect in her murder. Together with her sister, Mona (Mila Kunis) they start to unravel the mystery.

Max's wife worked for a company, Aesir, who developed a drug to make soldiers feel invincible. The first test subject was Jack Lupino (Amaury Nolasco), but the drug soon showed side effects and the project was terminated. Now the drugs are being used as a hallucinate, and addicts see winged creatures. These hallucinations are visually fantastic, and also rather creepy. The shadow effects are brilliantly done.

Speaking of visuals, 'Max Payne' is visually stunning. This film LOOKS amazing on screen. It is also beautifully shot; crisp and clear (best appreciated on Blu Ray). The sound effects are also excellent. The action sequences are fantastic with awesome photography. Wow, this was actually really exciting. A film that looks and sounds amazing, and an interesting story. I loved every minute!

I have never played the Max Payne games, so I have no idea if the movie was faithful to its origins. I've heard some people say that it was and others say it wasn't. But in any case, this really wasn't as bad as everyone seems to think. No, there wasn't as much action as you might get in a "Transporter" movie, but that didn't really bother me because sometimes I like movies that have a little more thought behind them. There were still some really awesome action sequences though and it was definitely beautifully shot. The atmosphere that they created with the lighting was great.

However, there were still some things that I didn't like about this movie and that they could have done better. First, most of it, especially the beginning, seemed very jumbled and hard to understand. The writing and the editing were sub-par. Second, and this is probably due to the bad writing and editing, you never really connect with any of the characters and so you can never really feel any overwhelming emotion about their situation. The whole thing seemed slightly hollow and empty, as if the writer and director themselves were not quite sure what they were trying to get at. Third, the acting sucked big time in some scenes. It wasn't horrible throughout the whole movie, but it still left much to be desired. Fourth, there were many things in the story that weren't fully explained, which only contributed to the hollow, confused feeling of the entire movie.

So, overall, it is not a bad film, but I was slightly disappointed. It really could have been an amazing movie, and I blame the writer and editor for almost completely ruining it. The only thing that saves it is the few awesome action scenes and the cinematography. But please don't believe anyone that says it one of the worst movies ever because it's not. It's just not as good as it should have been.

7.5/10

As everybody said Max Payne was a major pain in the butt when it releases a couple of years back, I didn't go to the theatres to see it. Last night, it was coming on TV and I thought, hey let me give it a try and sat down to watch it. The concept wasn't too bad, but the execution is very shoddy and amateurish.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a New York City police detective and he is haunted by the murder of his wife and baby's death even after three years. He killed two of the murderers, but couldn't kill the last one. He is a tortured soul who wants nothing more than hunting down the last murderer. During one of his routines to gather new leads and information about his family's murderer, he befriends Natasha Sax (Olga Kurylenko) who is murdered and her sister, Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) wants revenge. Jack Lupino (Amaury Nolasco) is her murderer and both Payne and Mona team up to get their revenge. But, is Lupino the real antagonist or is there someone operating behind the curtain?

First of all the cinematography is excellent - I loved the feel of the movie, the score is not overbearing. But what really is a drag, is that there is nothing in the story that drags the viewer in. The starting of the movie kind of captured my attention, but by the 30th minute, it was getting boring. Mark Wahlberg only has one expression in his face throughout the movie and it is a major pain in the ass when he portrays the same expression when he is happy with his family too. That is kind of confusing, wasn't he happy with his family when they were alive or what? Bad casting choice there and the writer seems to have no job here, as there are hardly any dialogues and whatever there is seems to be drowned out by Mr. Major Pain. Olga Kurylenko - why does so many of you think she is sexy again? She can act (Quantum Of Solace), but she isn't sexy (they should have roped in Megan Fox, now that is one hot babe) and she plays only a cameo which didn't add anything to the story. Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) as the bald Lupino who is high on drugs, looks and acts credibly, but there is not enough scope for his acting ability. Mila Kunis is also wasted. Why were there huge man-crows (or 'angels' like they call them) flying through the skies of NYC in the minds of people? I only got it, when they showed that all of them were druggies. This film seems to be telling us not to get addicted to drugs, we get it. Move on, will you? I don't do drugs (I am a 20 year old guy) and nor will anyone else who knows what drugs can really do. The slow motion scenes were good, but there was only a couple of them and the dark angels were very cool.

Though the film was somewhat boring, I can't give it a 1, because the visual treatment was excellent and I like some of Mr. Wahlberg's previous works. By the looks of it, there seems to be a sequel coming which I definitely won't be watching if the reviews are the same as this. Don't watch this at any cost, unless you are a teenage boy and get real high seeing girl-on-girl kiss.

4/10

This film is a really big missed opportunity. The styling and story line of the game could have been easily transferred t oa dark and violent film noir with a nice dose of conspiracy thrown in. Unfortunately all of this is wasted on a very tame and lackluster film that stick to a predictable formula with poor character development and sloppy dialogue.

Some of the visuals are nice but the lack of any true bullet time (which is a big mechanic of the games) is a real let down. As for the violence, yes there is a lot of shooting but this is a film that needed to be darker and more visceral. Had the action been more similar to films such as John Wick and the Raid or even the Punisher (TV series not film) and this film could of had potential. Unfortunately all of this was repeatedly squandered through.

The acting is fine but I felt that the poor script left them very little to work with. Hopefully in time this will get some form of reboot and correct these wrongs.