SYNOPSIS:
Mark
Wahlberg delivers an explosive performance in this action-packed
thriller based on the legendary, hard-hitting video game. Max
Payne (Wahlberg) is a maverick cop with little regard for rules
and nothing left to lose. Hell-bent on revenge, he's determined
to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his
family, but his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmarish
journey where dark fantasy collides with stark reality. As the
mystery deepens, Max is forced to battle enemies beyond the
natural world... and face an unthinkable betrayal that will
drive him to the edge of his own sanity.
MOVIE REVIEW:
This
review contains mild spoilers, proceed with caution.
I
got to blame the trailer for touting the wrong goods. To a
non-gamer, the money shots of Mark Wahlberg brandishing guns
surrounded by supernatural elements built up the anticipation
that "Max Payne" might be something along the line
of "Constantine". But alas the final product is
nothing close to what you imagine.
Screenwriter
Beau Thorne and director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines) stripped
down the basis of the popular videogame of the same name and
gave it an unbelievable ill treatment. Even the ever reliable
Mark Walberg is severely wasted right here.
Wahlberg
plays the title character, a once shining detective whose
depression and despondency gets him demoted to a file clerk
after the tragic death of his newborn child and wife. This
is where Wahlberg starts to act brooding and more brooding,
his one-off expression lasting the whole running time. Consider
the movie only lasts 100 minutes, for an hour or so, the pacing
never really picks up. Shortly after numerous flashbacks of
seeing Mrs Payne killed, Payne is entangled in the murder
of a dead woman, Natasha (the latest Bond girl Olga Kurylenko
in a 'this-helps-me-pay-the-bills' role) and the death of
Max’s ex-partner who recently discovered that Mrs Payne’s
death is more than meets the eyes. To make matters worse,
Payne is being hunted by an internal affairs officer (Ludacris)
for he is now the biggest suspect of all.
Now the
main problem lies in the script. Plenty of screentime is devoted
to the detective work by Payne and his newfound sidekick,
Mona (Mila Kunis) the sister of Natasha to uncover the truth
behind all the killings. However, it doesn’t require
knowledge of rocket science to figure out the whole mess.
The constant appearances of the angel-like creatures only
serve to heighten audience’s hopes while Wahlberg’s
constant brooding look is a pain in the ass to look at.
There
just aren’t enough major action pieces to entertain
the action fans beside the one shown briefly in the trailer
consider it’s a videogame adaptation. By the time the
movie kicks into full gear with a drug company employee Jason
Colvin (Chris O’Donnell aka Robin) blabbering the whole
truth behind Mrs Payne’s death, a drug called Valkyr
and the 'bullet time' action piece, you know "Max Payne"
is neither "Constantine" nor a decade late "The
Matrix".
The
only decent attempt by Moore is to give the movie a dark,
arresting look. Visually it’s rich enough. But we are
not watching a 5 minutes music video so Moore should consider
paying more attention to the script next time. It’s
another lame attempt to cash in on the popularity of videogames.
This DVD contains the harder cut of the movie, an additional
3 minutes worth of material that contains nothing more except
cranking up the violence factor.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Entitled as Featurettes on the back cover
of the DVD, it’s basically a behind-the-scenes segment
that is spilt into Picture Part 1 and Part
2. Altogether it runs to almost an hour. John Moore
comes across as arrogant and blessed with a foul mouth full
of f***, he boasts that once "Max Payne" reaches
more than hundred millions at the box-office, he will have
those f***ing lawyers from Fox off his back. Apparently, his
wish is too big for his own good. Compare to the movie, this
documentary is far worth your time.
The
Michelle Payne (Graphic Novel) which runs
13 minutes provides the back story on the Michelle Payne’s
character of. A rather interesting way of presenting it as
a graphic novel.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually
the DVD transfer is excellent. Most of the scenes involving
night and snowflakes are beautifully captured. Despite being
a lame action movie, the channels come especially alive during
the shootout, exploding glass and bullets can be heard clearly
.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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