Max Payne
Movie details
Based on the legendary, hard-hitting interactive video game, "Max Payne" tells the story of a maverick cop determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his family and partner. Hell-bent on revenge, his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmare journey into a dark underworld. As the mystery deepens, Max is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face an unthinkable betrayal.
Director John Moore
Stars Mark Wahlberg, Chris O'Donnell, Ludacris, Mila Kunis, Donal Logue
Frequent violence and drug use
Our review
Adapted from the popular video game of the same name, "Max Payne" follows hard-boiled New York cop Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg), who has sacrificed nearly everything in his crusade to find the man who murdered his wife and child three years ago. When a beautiful young woman is hacked to pieces and Payne's wallet is found at the scene, he is drawn into a drug-fuelled underworld that may be connected to his family's demise.
The first impression of "Max Payne" is that it wants to be "Sin City". The muted colours and the tough, street-wise philosophy of the opening scene's narration both recall the groundbreaking 2005 film. Unfortunately, "Max Payne" forgot to include the fun and excitement that made the earlier film so good.
Instead, we're subjected to an "action" movie that has no real action until the final 30 minutes. Rather than take the obvious approach of having Mark Wahlberg fight bad guys, he scowls at them for the first hour in a way that looks like he could do with a bit more fibre in his diet.
Watching the effects of fictional drug, valkyr, are the high point of "Max Payne" - at least in the early parts of the movie. Subtle shifts in lighting, and camera tricks work well with visual effects to give the audience a sense of the paranoid terror that grips the drug users. The monstrous winged Valkyries that symbolise the drug's influence are also quite striking.
Most of the cast (including Beau Bridges and Chris O'Donnell) phone in their performances, but rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges (no relation to Beau) is surprisingly watchable in an ultimately useless role as an Internal Affairs investigator with his eyes on Payne.
Movies based on video games have a deserved reputation for being fairly terrible, and "Max Payne" does nothing to change this. A "Payneful" experience, indeed.
4/10
Morgan Derera
In compiling yourTime content, HWW relies upon information supplied by a number of sources. yourTime content is supplied on the basis that while HWW believes that all the information in it will be correct at time of publishing, it does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.
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