Nicolas F. Costoglou Max Payne is my second favourite Video game adaption after "Prince of Persia the Sand of Time".The movie is a clear and effective homage to the Noir-Thrillers of the 30's-50's in every aspect and that's what makes the movie great for me. This film doesn't rely on action sequences rather than telling a intriguing Thriller-story with a few very well handled action sequences, which are all unique and different.This is my favourite performance by Mark Wahlberg and that's saying something, because a year prior he showed us his worst performance in the weird "The Happening". He shows great subtle emotions and you feel for him the whole way through because you understand him. All the other actors also do a fairly well job, even Mila Kunis who is believable in one of her first serious roles.One of the reasons i hold this movie in such high regards is also the technical aspect of it. The look is beautiful and the camera-work and editing is great. It succeeds in capturing the style and tone of a real Noir-Thrillers, but with a modern take. Dark contrasts and long shadows, also the use of color in this movie is (while slightly on-the-nose) really well handled. Also the visual effects are really well done, most of all when people take the Valkyr-drug it's sheer amazing at times.The score by Marco Beltrami is some of his best work, and i'm a real fan of this composer for a long time.The story is slightly changed from the video game to make it work on it's own and so that it's surprising even for fans, and i appreciate it (being a fan of the games myself).I'm also happy they used Max monologues just at the start and the finish of the movie, because even in the game it's sometimes a bit to over-depressive and metaphorical at times.All in all i enjoy the movie very much, it even introduced me to the games, and even after playing both i haven't changed my mind at all... (For the record: I talk only about the Director's Cut, the other version really is some bull**** ;) )

matatosky 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.

lewiskendell Making a movie based on a video game is always a risky proposition, and Max Payne is yet another example of how NOT to do it. Personally, I thought that too much time had passed since the Max Payne games were popular. Why even make this now? The property isn't nearly classic enough to still be recognized by the current crop of gamers who probably don't even remember it. Yes, this has nothing to do with why the movie itself was so bad, but it puzzled me all the same.Anyway, back to the movie. I almost feel sorry for Mark Wahlberg, because for a talented actor, he sure chose to be in some terrible movies in 2008. The Happening was mediocre in every way, but Max Payne is past awful. Did he not read this script before signing on? Story exposition comes from random characters with one minute of screen time, people show up in places they have no reason to be just in time for important plot points, and I'm still not sure who some of the characters were even supposed to be. Add that to an appalling directing job and some of the weirdest facial expressions that I've ever seen (especially Mark, he looks constipated 75% of the time). Even the action scenes don't satisfy. A piece of debris falls directly onto a lone police car, just so it can explode? And we're supposed to be entertained by that? I don't think so. And Olga Kurylenko and Mila Kunis are WASTED. How is that even possible? Olga is on-screen for maybe 5 minutes, and they managed to make Mila, somehow, look unattractive. They can't make an exciting movie out of a game based entirely on shooting, but they managed to make a gorgeous woman look like crap? My head is still trying to wrap around that. My point is, there's not any redeeming qualities in this disaster.I pity anyone who buys this turd tomorrow, hoping for a good action movie. I hope Mark got a ginormous paycheck for this, because it knocked my opinion of him as an actor down a few notches. Max Payne fails at being a video game adaptation, fails at being an action movie, and fails at being entertaining. Skip it.

George Clarke No, that summary title isn't wrong, I was playing with words. Much like director John Moore does with scripts!How, pray tell, did this man ever get the leap into feature films?No please, I would really like to know. I have 7 features under my belt, all independently of course, but this guy just jumps straight in with Behind Enemy Lines (which to be fair was, well, fair).But my god, if there ever was a boring director then it must be John Moore. He does some things in his films that even make Uwe Boll seem exciting!Max Payne may be one of the better game to film adaptations, but by the 30 minute mark I was checking Facebook on my phone, doing a crossword and skyping my husband.Even with such beautiful visuals, at times, there just wasn't enough to hold my attention. I only played the game a handful of times, but that seems more than what Moore did before he got his hands on this project.Such a shame, but a good background movie.