Max Payne (2008)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  4 / 10

  Max Payne may not be the worst video game adaptation but it's still a "payne"-ful experience. Having never played any games from this franchise, I can only solely base my thoughts on the film itself. And honestly, it's not terrible. Granted it's not 'Silent Hill' or 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' good but it certainly isn't 'Alone in the Dark' or 'DOA: Dead or Alive' atrocious. A homicide detective seeks revenge for the murder of his wife and child, to which he soon comes across a company producing chemicals to aggressively enhance soldiers. 'Jacob's Ladder' meets any other generic revenge thriller, although this iteration lacks any thrills. Having done some rapid research (thank you Wikipedia), it seems at first the story stays true to the source material for the outset. Norse mythology, identical characters and similarities in plot points, regardless the narrative still felt like an incoherent illogical illusory mess. The non-existent character development resulted in any plot twists (if you can call them that) to be negated. It plays the old "good guy is bad guy" card and it delivered nothing to the table. The character of Payne himself should be emotionally vulnerable, everything he loved has now instantly dissipated. Emptiness. Sorrow. Melancholy. Instead, we get Wahlberg scowling and walking as if he owns the city whilst simply talking his lines. No expression, just talking. He might have the physicality correct, but lacks emotional conviction. The supporting cast were forgettable, that also includes Kunis, simply proclaiming "oh no...it's Max Payne!". Aesthetically, I adored the noir style. Glossy, atmospheric and reminiscent of 'Sin City'. Moore directed this to "max"-imum potential. Action was well executed, the Valkyrie imagery was ominous and he convincingly made the environment its own character. The tower siege in the third act was chaotic and visually impressive, particularly the Valkyrie hallucinations which tear apart the building. Is it style over substance? I suspect so. Just a shame that the cast and screenplay melt away what could've been a decent crime mystery.

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