Max Payne (2008)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

I avoided this for 10 years... I enjoyed the game too much and didn't want to be disappointed. Here it is 10 years later and guess what ? I was freaking disappointed. Here are my thoughts on it, FYI there are no spoilers - "nothing" in this movie is worth spoiling.1. Number one warning : it is categorized as an "Action, Crime, Drama" and rated PG-13. - only the rating is appropriate. 2. If the goal is not to be like the game then you shouldn't use the title, character and style of the game - BTW this goal was totally achieved. 3. Without the title name, there is no reason to see this film - there was nothing memorable about this movie. 4. I will be remembering writer Beau Thorne and directed John Moore - if I ever see anything with their names on it, I'm running away screaming. 5. I saw this for free and I demanded my money back - I got $20 to go away and stop yelling.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy that can befall a film is also one of the most simple mistakes that can be made during the filmmaking process- the failure to meet potential. The inability to live up to the promise of a story or an idea. And arguably in no other film is this idea exemplified more than in director John Moore's 2008 release "Max Payne." Because not only did the film fail to meet its potential... it failed to meet its potential after that potential had already been realized in the far superior video-game on which it is loosely based. The original 2001 game "Max Payne" was a pioneering and groundbreaking release that made keen use of cinematic storytelling, top-notch voice talent and Hollywood-level screen writing to realize a dark and grim tale of vengeance and crime. It was almost a movie in itself already- it merely needed to be translated from one medium to another.Unfortunately, an army of producers and one of the most inept filmmakers in modern cinema saw it differently, and decided that rather than honor the original, they would go out of their way to change it. And it resulted in something that while occasionally aesthetically entertaining to watch, ultimately feels vapid and empty... merely coasting by with the most basic and bland of clichés, and only occasionally giving us brief glimpses of the brilliance seen in the source material. In essence, a truly unique modern noir tale became a generic studio hack-job. But what else can we expect from the same director who single-handedly destroyed the "Die Hard" franchise?Max Payne (Mark Whalberg) is a man lost- a cold-case police detective haunted by the murder of his wife and infant child. Obsessed with the case, he tracks down criminals in an attempt to solve the mystery of why they were killed and who is responsible. Following various leads and tips, Max eventually begins to piece together a conspiracy that might have something to do with the death of his family... a conspiracy involving a mysterious hallucinogenic drug and an equally mysterious young woman named Mona (Mila Kunis) who might be the key to everything...To give some praise where it is deserved, there are indeed a few moments peppered in here and there that work, in addition to a few solid turns from a talented cast. Whalberg and Kunis are both more than adequate in their roles and do the parts as much justice as the script allows. In the hands of a better writer and a better director, they could have been perfect. I also really enjoyed Donal Logue and Beau Bridges in smaller supporting roles. The color palette is a good translation of the source material and what little action there is is typically well-executed, even if Moore fumbles in trying to replicate the game's trademark "bullet time" action set- pieces. As a result, I do think that audiences unfamiliar with the source material might be able to get some surface-level thrills from the proceedings. But that's all it is... surface-level thrills without proper substance behind them. You could say that it almost feels like a true "Max Payne" tale... almost...Unfortunately, you can't help but feel completely apathetic towards the movie as a whole because it seems that Moore and writer Beau Thorne fundamentally misunderstand the appeal of the franchise and completely fail at capturing the magic of those now-classic games. Like many filmmakers who work on game-to-film adaptations, Moore, Thorne and the various producers behind the film seem utterly convinced that they can do better than the original, and make nonstop and completely superfluous changes to the story that convolutes it instead of enhancing it. When you take something as fresh and unique as the original "Max Payne" and try to "make it better" by changing it, it looses its freshness and uniqueness. When you change something that's already pretty much perfect, the only way to go is down, which is exactly what happens.So fresh ideas are replaced by generic tropes. Interesting characters are replaced by bland archetypes. And fascinating twists and turns are replaced by dull and overused cliché. It makes the film so much less than it has the potential to be. Not only does it do no justice to the original work, but it also ends up making for a much weaker film even when judged on its own merit. Change, change, change... and all for no reason. Why should we as an audience care about a film if its clear that the filmmakers have no respect whatsoever for the source material or their audience? Combine that with atrociously grating dialog, generally bland visuals outside of the eye-popping action, a confused and unfocused narrative structure and a tamed-down PG-13 rating that feels like it's holding the film back, and you have a recipe for mediocrity."Max Payne" might not objectively be a terrible film. But it is most certainly a sorely disappointing one. A symbol of not only Hollywood's continued misunderstanding and mishandling of video-game properties, but also of the terrible sin of failed potential. And so, I give it a below-average 4 out of 10.

Nothing after seeing this video game adaptation. I am not a gamer. I don't fit the description or the profile. My favorite games are only Grand Theft Auto, Hit-man, Max Payne, the occasional boxing, hockey, wrestling and basketball game. Thats it. Im not going to pretend to base off of the gaming point of view. I've played Max Payne 1 & 2. I've yet to play Max Payne 3, as adulthood has drastically put a damper on my gaming tendencies, but I am guessing it's a solid game like the first 2. The movie was very well expected, even though Mark Wahlberg was lead star. Mark Wahlberg has had a LOT of ranges in different movies, we all know he has presence in front of a camera, but he wouldn't have even been in my top 100 to incarnate a wonderful character like Max Payne. He does not look, act, speak nor even MOVES like the character, which is why critics have panned his performance as terrible, because well....it was a terrible casting choice, ALONG many. Moving on, don't bother playing the game to understand the movie. The plot has been senselessly altered if not eradicated from its original premise and even changing targets at the several villains in the game. The movie shifts from a tale of revenge to war on capitalism by dragging out some scenes that were useless anyway. As I said before, the casting. It's terrible. Worse than Mark Wahlberg, is the fact that they cast Ludicrous (Yes THAT guy) in a role meant for a 50-60 year old man, as it is evident in the game. Now, Im happy for Ludicrous making it big in acting but cmon REALLY!?!? And let's be honest, he's not that good of an actor and his presence here is mildly irritating, especially in such an important role. Mila Kunis is really miscast. Mona Sax, the game version, is a ruthless and yet intelligently seductive assassin that knows how to counteract Max' intense and impulsive behavior. In the movie, Mila tries to make her character seem like that but does not make it happen. The chemistry of the characters in the game is not equally distributed here on screen. I really did want to like the movie, I really, really did, but it just insults its namesake. I bet you a million bucks that if this movie, had been named entitled ANY other name, it wouldve been awesome and I wouldve personally recommended it, but it's name is Max Payne. A beautiful and gripping game turned into a less than mediocre movie. Halfway into the movie, I found myself wondering if I was watching 'Constantine' or Max Payne, and I LOVE Constantine but that's not the direction the movie needed to go. Finally, the ending is pretty weak. It has basically no substance and doesn't give you the fulfillment the ending of the game does. It's just bland. If you're a hardcore gamer, you don't need this film in your life. Play the video game better. If you're looking for dark shoot em ups, watch Smokin Aces. Way better movie, acting and storyline and one of my favorites. I'm not going to say it is a terrible movie, it isn't, but it is a terrible adaptation. I feel completely ashamed that I ever had to say a bad word about Max Payne, but if any had to be said, it would be about this movie.

Watching Max Payne I did not realize it was based on a video game character until reading about it here. Then certain things began to make sense and I put myself in the place of the protagonist/hero that Mark Wahlberg plays. A lot of it made sense even to me who is of an age where one did not play video games in their formative years.Wahlberg's Max Payne is a detective down in cold case now. He requested a transfer there, not a plumb assignment but one that leaves you with a lot of time on your hands. Time enough to study cases and develop patterns and similarities if one is looking for some special killers. In this case it was Wahlberg's wife and daughter. The late wife wife worked for a pharmaceutical company and it was over her job that she was killed. They've developed a drug for the military which given to soldiers just eliminates fear from the equation. You can fight off just about anything except a directly fatal wound. It's also highly addictive and you'll do just about anything to get it. If you don't get it some dark fantasies come your way.I have to give credit to Mark Wahlberg here. This film maybe based on a video game fantasy but at no time does Wahlberg become a cartoon like caricature. He also gets some good support from Donal Logue as his former partner, Beau Bridges as the former head of security at the victim's job and one deadly female assassin in Mila Kunis. That woman is in a role far from the emptyheaded cheerleader she played in That Seventies Show. She's originally hunting Wahlberg thinking he might have been part of the killing of her sister who's gotten into that drug. But they join forces against the bad guys.Remember this film is a fantasy and for a mass audience and it's hardly Oscar material. Still I have to give credit to Wahlberg and the cast for putting some dimensions into cartoon like characters.