 "A Pain to Watch" | 2010-01-24 |
| - Reviewed By Teriek Williams from New York, NY |
2008's Max Payne is a long-awaited adaptation of the once-popular video game of the same name. The storyline of the video game is the archetype of the proverbial revenge saga with an undercurrent of film noir. The dark stylistic embodiment of guilt and redemption alongside vengeance gave the character of Max Payne enough depth to make him a plausible hero that is emotionally conflicted and passionately devoted to solving the mystery of his wife and child's murder. The framing of new conventions of storytelling and visual style allowed Max Payne as a video game to stand out from its predecessors. The idea of a film adaptation was immediately envisioned by fans of the video game especially since the video game seemed closely aligned with the form of film storytelling. Alongside Grand Theft Auto, the idea of a film adaptation seemed promising and welcome. However, no film adaptation surfaced until after the video game franchise was negatively affected by a poor video game sequel.
Upon learning that Mark Wahlberg was cast to play the title character, I was immediately turned off and refused to see the film in theatres. Wahlberg without fail has portrayed every character he has ever played as a tough guy. Wahlberg's one speed acting style is just as annoying as Will Smith's frequent use of sarcasm or Keanu Reeves's emotionless and stiff line delivery. Wahlberg singlehandedly limited the potential of The Italian Job and Shooter while becoming the most annoying aspect of Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Wahlberg is a completely vain actor/producer, which is why his vehicles Four Brothers or the annoying HBO show Entourage are fouled with his unfounded self-importance. The character of Max Payne never appears as a "tough guy" like a Stallone or Schwarzenegger character but rather that of a John McClane character. Max Payne is in great pain, which fuels his search for his family's killer. Wahlberg never shows emotional depth making his casting a huge mistake and without fail, Wahlberg never appeared pained by the death of his family mainly because he's too busy taking everything head on without being hurt. In the video game, Max Payne is not in the best shape physically or mentally. Wahlberg's characterization betrays this. Kevin Bacon's performance in Death Sentence is the better model for a Max Payne especially since Death Sentence is similar to the story of Max Payne but Kevin Bacon has far more range than Wahlberg does.
The casting of Mila Kunis is also a major mistake. Kunis, a former That 70s Show cast member, has never demonstrated any ability at serious acting. Kunis is a pretty girl who belongs in such roles because she has never displayed diversity or range. In this film, she plays a femme fatale character but cannot pull it off because she is not believable in such a role in any way. Chris "Ludacris" Bridges gave a watchable performance in the 2005 Oscar-winning drama Crash because he was playing a character with similarities to his own behavior as a real-life person. Chris Bridges as a gangster rapper has no business playing an Internal Affairs officer and his inability at transformative method acting proves the point. Chris Bridges' predictable and unmoving performance adds to the bad acting and complete betrayal of the story. Beau Bridges who is the one decent actor in this film fails to give a standout performance and he is predictable as a double-crosser. Chris O'Donnell makes an appearance in the film. Those who are familiar with O'Donnell's performances in films like Scent of a Woman knows that including him in this high-octane shoot'em up film is not the best idea. O'Donnell is suited for dramatic acting not action films. He feels out of place here even as he tries hard to seem legitimate.
In the video game, Jack Lupino is an Italian gangster whereas in the film, he is portrayed by Puerto Rican actor Amaury Nolasco and is a former Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Nolasco is completely unbelievable as a U.S. Marine no less as Gunnery Sergeant. Changing Lupino's background from organized crime to the U.S. military is an offensive move. Instead of following a more interesting organized crime background, the filmmakers make another subtle Hollywood anti-military and anti-war dig in which the U.S. government authorizes the use of experimental drugs for soldiers in order to make them stronger and more enduring for combat. Such a plot change is ridiculous and completely unrelated to the subject matter that Max Payne wishes to explore. Other changed aspects include that Max Payne changed to DEA after his family's death while in the film he remains an NYPD detective.
Another point of contention is the film's overblown visual effects and exaggeration of the affects of this experimental drug. The cinematography and the directorial formula are too obvious to seem original. Similar to terrible adaptations of Hitman and Doom as well as the complete stupidity of the no-plot/all-action Live Free or Die Hard, Max Payne is total waste of a film that would have been better suited for a director who understands film noir, an actor who can balance anger and pain, and a supporting cast that pushes the film forward instead of adding to its downfall. |
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 "Great action & camera but that's about it" | 2009-12-05 |
| - Reviewed By magellan from Santa Clara, CA |
I enjoyed this movie for the action and cinematography but that was about it. The gun play is fantastic, and it reminded me of the movie "Desperado," starring Antonio Banderas and Joachim Almeida (it even featured Cheech Marin as the bartender) from 10 or 15 years ago in its emphasis on fancy gun play. That much was entertaining at least.
I didn't mind that the plot was full of holes (after all, the movie is based on a video game so I wasn't expecting anything profound there),but unfortunately, the worst thing about the movie is that Wahlberg, who is certainly a talented actor and who I like, just doesn't seem that involved in the role. His whole performance is somewhat wooden, and from his past roles he's certainly capable of better. He's also a quite competent martial artist and quite athletic, reminding me of Lawrence Olivier when he was young, who used to do all his own stunts, when he broke a lot of bones. My generation only remembers Olivier from his senior years' roles as an old man such as in "The Jazz Singer," and most don't know how physical he was when he was younger.
Anyway, I ramble on. I give this movie three stars for all the great action sequences, and also the cinematography is actually excellent, and in many ways quite beautiful and aesthetic in many scenes, so I want to give whoever was in charge of the camera his due. He did a great job with what was otherwise a less than stellar vehicle for Walhberg, who I hope will get some better roles in the future since he is certainly capable of more. |
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 "Pretty Good" | 2009-10-14 |
| - Reviewed By Hello Lover!!! from New York, NY |
| This movie in my opinion wasn't that bad.I saw it with my boyfriend(who of course loved it)I kind of liked it too.Its totally a guy movie.If you liked Sin City,300,and/or Underworld then you would like this movie 100 percent.Its along those same lines with the action and the video game/comic book feel to it.I didn't love the movie but I liked it and it would be something to add to my collection without a doubt.Its interesting and it just basically a movie made for all those hard core video gamers or any typical guy. |
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 "Bad movie...Even for an Action Fan..." | 2009-09-19 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
This is actually the first review I've ever written. But this movie was so bad, I had to write about it.
I love Max Payne the videogame. It revolutionized the 3rd person shooter. Built on really cool slow motion gun battles. So in my mind, the movie should revolutionize the slow motion shooter action movie. I understand "The Matrix" created the super cool shoot-outs, and Max Payne shouldn't copy them. But maybe create a new unique version of it, and build the movie on those.
Instead? We get a bad script and a bad movie. Listen, I'm no film snob. I would even go so far as to say I enjoyed Doom the movie. I love action movies, and enjoy a lot of what most critics would hate. But the handful of slow motion gun battle scenes we get in Payne are not impressive. Certainly nothing new. And there's BARELY any shoot-outs! I think I was like 40 minutes into the movie, and there was not much action. A Payne movie should have bullets flying by minute 5.
The supernatural/LAME angle was horrible. Not even worth the time for me to type about the plot. Its predictable and uninteresting. I actually caught myself daydreaming during some of it. I don't blame Wahlberg, although I think Clive Owen would be a better Max. I just think the script is horrible. That makes the movie un-watchable.
If you dig Max Payne and action movies, understand this movie is at the bottom of the list. If the Blu-Ray comes down to less than $10, MAYBE get it. But think twice. |
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| "horrbile" | 2009-09-18 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| Full of plot holes and bad acting. Some nice visuals every now and then though. |
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| "Now This Was Payne." | 2009-09-15 |
| - Reviewed By WildsideCinema.com from Chicago, IL United States |
Unconvincing and miscast actors...check. Bad dialogue...check. Unlikable characters...check. Curiously dated and often inappropriate score...check. Go-nowhere subplots...check. Max Payne was a serious disappointment, and this isn't coming from a Max Payne video game fan, it just wasn't a good film. How could a film with such stunning visuals, a slam dunk concept and the star power of Mark Wahlberg goes so horribly wrong? Chances are the problem starts with Beau Thorne's hokey, clichéd "nu-noir" script and moves right on down to John Moore's flat, uninspired direction.
Or maybe it was all Beau Bridges and his truly awful performance?
After sitting down and watching the film twice, I found it actually getting worse with each viewing as I found more and more inconsistencies. Brides, Kunis and Wahlberg's characters were completely unlikable and Ludacris's acting was HORRID (stick to rapping brother!), the only shining star was Amaury ("Prison Break") Nolasco's impressive turn as psycho soldier Lupino. I could probably also mention that anytime I get to see the tragically underrated Donal Logue act in a film it's a treat but not in this instance. No...this was no treat at all. Really though, poor Wahlberg, first the train wreck that is The Happening...now...this. Let's hope The Brazilian Job breaks his streak of god-awful cinema. |
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