Max Payne (2008)

For a screen adaptation this is too loose in terms of script. For a fresh new story about cop taking his revenge against drugs and conspiracy this is also too loose in terms of script. I won't join my voice with the chorus saying "this is not how it had been in the game". The lowest-rate reviews are of that kind. Yet, writers had to choose side. Which they did not. In terms of brand new movie this is simple: plot seems too much generic. Just another cop who takes revenge for his family against conspiracy and corruption. How many of that kind do we know? A lot.In terms of screen adaptation there's too little of Max Payne in this Max Payne movie. Yes, we've got picturesque scenes and precisely directed vignettes (more of the visual kind). But... you know, that is all. Not a movie of Max Payne, but a movie with a cameo of Max Payne. Some different story that takes place somewhere in those parts, and remarkable details glimpse to you now and then. Yet, a totally different story. Not only in script (god knows, that is not necessary) but in the terms of feeling. Bright sun, neat offices, cute family-driven premises are not the things that should surround us! Still... I can't say this is a bad movie. Everything but script seems supreme. To me, at least. I really like visuals. I think Mark Wahlberg is a fairly good Max Payne (except that brand stupid smile is lost). And I love how accurate and beautifully they depict weapons. and...Overall, if you can stand a stupid script, I think you will like this.

'Max Payne' is the movie adaptation of the infamous computer game. Many critics say it is something which that the movie makers have not ever played or even seen still frames of. I would also honestly admit I have never played it. So I can only give my individual judgement of the movie itself. The movie is about a cop played by Wahlberg who is intent capturing the killers of wife and young child. This is shown in flashback sequence in the middle portion of the movie. From his undercover snitch his is given leads and before he can question them they are killed off. However his partner discovers some information which leads Payne to a pharmaceutical company that his wife was employed for. The reason behind his family's murder forms the latter part of the movie. There is also the role played by Mila Kunis who is after the killer of her sister. The movie is directed by John Moore who is behind the upcoming 'Stephen King' Movie IT and made the 2006 'The Omen' The cinematography is very appropriate with the film. There are many moments that are reminiscent of Frank Miller's 'Sin City'. As a matter of the fact the entire film is shot in that same dark bleached style. The film has good pacing and does not waste time with the plot. Many fans of the game have criticised the film for not being faithful to the game. But I guess it's each to their own. Mark Wahlberg once again hammers loudly at the screen. Unfortunately his emotions are underdeveloped, but plays the role to his best ability. Frankly I feel that this role was too restraining for him. Beau Bridges also gives good support.

Maybe I've just seen too many movies. While Max Payne looked good from every angle, the writers are standing by throughout holding up a banner announcing the next event. Whenever a beautiful girl walks down a dirty dark alley at night... The moment you lay your eyes on Bad Guy #1 (I won't reveal his name), you know it and at the same time, realize what really happened to Max Payne's family and why. You know when a guy wants to come to Max's apartment with some information that he'll be dead before he can impart it. And you know Max will be blamed for just about everything that happens. There will be no surprises. Now it's just a matter of toughing it out to the end. Even the scene near the end when Max is lying on the street freezing to death. My wife told me several minutes before what was going to happen and how, and of course it did. Someone once said a good story should end with a logical, inevitable surprise.That is to say, you're really surprised, yet when you think about it, it was inevitable and you should have seen it coming. Sometimes to be blindsided by that kind of surprise would be nice.

Just when you thought video game movies couldn't get even worse, here comes the pain! "Max Payne" that is. It's a dull, clichéd detective story that masquerades as a supernatural film in order to sucker you in. The story follows Max Payne, a detective who had a loving wife and family, but lost it all one night when intruders came into his house and murdered them while he was away at work. Ten minutes earlier and he could have saved them so of course, he has become a shadow of his former self, only dealing with cold cases and generally walking around brooding. When a girl who unsuccessfully tries to seduce him turns up dead, he is suspected of being the killer and is forced to go on the run. The killer, or killers appear to be connected to a narcotic drug "Valkyr", who in turn appears to be connected to his wife. Was it all a senseless murder after all, or a big conspiracy? It's up to this super sleuth to figure it out, along with the sister of the dead girl, Mona (Mila Kunis).This really feels like a dusty old detective story script that was re-purposed to be a video game movie. The plot, concerning Mark Walhberg, walking around the crime-ridden streets brooding constantly is a tremendous bore. Suspect number 1 for this crime is the director, who makes none of the characters remotely interesting. Max Payne is about as emotionally responsive as a T-800, except constantly depressed. During the whole film he doesn't crack a single smile and always appears on the verge of tears. He's not even interested in Olga Kurylenko (who was in another bad video game movie I saw, "Hitman"). She strips down, completely naked and tries to seduce him. He looks at her like she's a blank wall. He doesn't even get excited when he's gunning down the bad guys or running away from danger. Even getting shot in the arm barely gets a rouse out of Max so you cannot connect with this character, no matter how tragic his back story is. Mila Kunis doesn't fare much better. Her character is basically just angry at the fact that her sister was murdered. That's it. She tags along with Max Payne, sometimes. Mostly she just disappears from the movie. Our villains are completely bland as well. Amaury Nolasco plays a 'roided up assassin that is really just a generic serial killer. Believe me, even that sentence makes it sound more interesting than it actually is. Even the overall mystery of who killed Max Payne's wife and child is really easy to figure out from the get-go (due to the overuse of logos on the victims and items related to the case) and once you do figure it out, you're checking your watch hoping the running time is almost over. No such luck."But wait a minute!" you might be saying "I saw the trailer for this movie and it looked really cool! There were these creepy angels flying around, rooftops exploding into scenes taken straight out of hell, and I even saw a clip where the people investigating a murder said that the wounds couldn't have been caused by anything human!" To you, I'm sorry to say that you have been terribly misled. You see; someone at the head of the studio watched this movie and realized how boring it all was. They knew that none of the characters would entice you in the least to check it out, so they threw in a bunch of clips of the characters on drugs having hallucinations. To clarify, whenever people use the Valkyr drug, they start having these visions of angels and of hell. At first, you don't know this but it becomes obvious that every scene where you hear fluttering wings or shadows over a character that is screaming or running away in panic is just a bunch of hallucinations. The film teases with the idea that the drug actually causes people to see invisible creatures and that the murders are being causes by these angelic beings, but it is not the case. The wounds that "couldn't have been caused by a human" are, in fact caused by a human and there are no hidden mystical creatures in this movie.At least with some bad video game movies, like "Resident Evil", "Super Mario Brothers" or even "Bloodrayne" the movie sucks, but there are some interesting action scenes and maybe a couple of cool creatures or interesting monsters to make the time pass by. It really isn't the case here. Yeah there are some shootouts, but the climactic battles are about as interesting as your average bed pillow and I struggle to call a bunch of hallucinations "cool creatures". They could have been edited out of the movie completely and not affected the plot in the least.Everything about this movie screams "bad direction", particularly considering the stars, which have proved themselves to be competent actors before. You can do so much better than "Max Payne", which by the way, sets itself up for a sequel at the end of the credits (a sequel that thankfully will never come to pass). Just don't watch it. It sucks, it's even worse than you've heard. (On DVD, April 25, 2014)