Max Payne DVD Review

Max Payne (Region 2):
Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a cop. He is a moody, angry soul with a permanent scowl who obsessively works on cold case files in an attempt to find clues as to who killed his wife and baby. He finds a lead which may help him and he pursues it. On his quest he comes across Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) whom he eventually joins forces with after her sister is killed possibly by the same people who killed Max Payne’s family. Max finds evidence of a cover up at the highest level with several clues pointing back to a drug called Valkyr made by Aesir Pharmaceuticals which just happens to be where his wife worked. Will Max find those responsible? Will he get to shoot them? And will he get more work as a gravel voiced talk over guy?

Max Payne is yet another on of the films that are based on a best selling game (of the same name) and as we have seen in the past (Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne) things have not always turned out that well. Whilst I am happy to say that this movie doesn’t hit bottom like those two films it doesn’t full its potential. But I think that the only reason for this is that nothing really happens during the first half of the film, so much so that my partner told me that she was “going to bed because this is boring”.

This is a real shame as I think that Wahlberg is convincing as the grimacing Max Payne, anyone who has played the game will know that the look on Max’s face throughout that was a scowl and that is exactly what we get there, Max has nothing to be happy about, indeed, max has nothing really left to live for except to deal out revenge on those responsible for killing his family, indeed on certain flash backs we she the spirit of his wife tell him “not yet Max”.

We even have gorgeous Bond girl Olga Kurylenko in the film as a call girl in the film but I felt she was never really utilised enough, in fact I would have preferred to see her in the role of Mona Sax; not that Mila Kunis (who did play her) wasn’t any good as she was, but because I am a complete fanboy of Ms Kurylenko and felt her smouldering good looks should have been on screen more. That said Kunis does favourably as an assassin.

Other people of note are Beau Bridges as BB Hensley, Ludacris as Lt Jim Bravura and Chris O’Donnell as Jason Colvin whom are all there to either help or hinder Max in his quest for revenge. Chris O’Donnell playing the better of the three roles mentioned here.

The movie itself I didn’t feel was overly long, but it did feel unbalanced, not much happens in the first half of the movie and all the action and shooting comes in the last half, some would say that makes sense and yes it does, but I felt that it was a case of so little going on in the first 50% of the film that it could actually be construed as being a little boring.

Looks wise the film is stunning, Director John Moore (behind Enemy Lines) has captured the film-noir influence of the game and has brought it to life here as a dark, foreboding environment with snow flurries to add to the cold desolate chill of the place, The special effects too were all in the same style and quite stunning, in fact the look and feel of the film reminds me of a cross between Sincity, Constantine and 300, sound wise too it is all things good as the LFE rumbles out deep bass especially with each gunshot, it is a real gem on the eyes and ears.

Overall I think that Max Payne has just missed the mark. It isn’t a terrible film and I think that the viewer will be entertained but it is unbalanced and something is missing, whether it is a big of character development or something more interesting in the first half I don’t know, but something is amiss. As a game to film conversion I think it is one of the superior ones out there it looks and sounds beautiful and I do wonder if they will make a second as there is a second game called The Fall of Max Payne.

Extras:
The special features may as well not be there as all you get are three weblinks, I hope the full retail version gives more than this, pathetic.

Overall:
I feel that Max Payne has really captured the look and feel of the game very well but something has been lost in the execution of it. It is worth a watch but it doesn’t pick up until the last half.

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