Movie: Max Payne
Director: John Moore
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Beau Bridges
Story
The classic PC game, much like other games, comes to the big screen. For the first half of the movie it appeared things were going semi-stay true to the game plot. Sure, he wasn’t part of the DEA in the movie, nor was the Punchinello Mafia family involved, but the general theme was there. Family killed. Man seeking revenge. Drugs and big corporation. However, things went so very wrong… there was a “demon” that indicated the drug and drug users, as well as the endless supply of bad-ass looking people who really didn’t add much to the story.
Basically, started with promise but fell very flat.
Points: 1/2
Sounds
Purely from a sound effects perspective, this movie had it bases covered. Guns that would echo in empty spaces, slow motion explosions with sound to match… the attention was given to the details. Interestingly, I do not recall any true soundtrack to the movie.
Points: 1.5 /2
Acting
Mark Wahlberg played a convincing Max Payne. He seemed to be an individual who was hurting, looking for a reason to why his life played out in the manner that it did. However, once the movie went too far toward computer generate action and Sci-fi toward the end, Wahlberg did not seem to be in his element.
Mila Kunis (Family Guy, That 70’s Show fame) took the role of Mona Sax. A woman looking for revenge for the loss in her life. Frankly, she didn’t have enough screen time to make much of an impact, but what little time she did have the “bitch” aspect she was shooting for came across loud and clear.
Other notables…Beau Bridges was involved in the movie as Max’s trusted confidant who turn on him and he plays the role very well. Kinda makes me want to watch more of his work. Also, Chris O’Donnell had a very small role. I was surprised to see he was even around these days. It looks like the potential lead man roles of past are long gone.
Points: 1/2 (would have been higher by Wahlberg was out of he element the last ¼ of the movie)
Cinematography
Much like the story, the cinematography started off with promise. The dark setting with off tone colors to set the mood and feel showed there was potential. Once the movie started to add special effects – more and more special effects – the quality of the movie went down. It was almost as if they attempted to create both a movie and a video game. If that was the case, they failed.
Points: 1/2
Personal Enjoyment
I was excited and I was let down. I really don’t know what more to say. There was the potential for a good action movie that was based on a video game but they blew it. Yes, you have to suspend reality in order to watch such movies but the poor integration of FX lead to a near catastrophe.
Points: .5/2
Bottom Line
Stay way unless you are completely out of other things to watch. If you were a fan of the game, I fear you’ll be disappointed, and if you are looking simply for a game to movie conversion I strongly suggest you check out Hitman. Seriously, this isn’t even a keeper for your “I’ll keep anything” DVD collection…
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