Max Payne
A sub-par (read: shitty) video game movie is not a novel idea. From Mortal Kombat to Doom, we have seen epic game stories torn down to their least-engaging elements and squeezed into a two-hour disaster that betrays the filmmaker’s total ignorance of their particular game. Max Payne was no different. The characters, the story, and the atmosphere all wish that they were recreating some bit of the Payne world, but they fail miserably. The only thing that comes close to being reminiscent of the actual games are the environments. When the snow is falling and people are walking around in it, a distant memory of gameplay is evoked. Otherwise, we are all lost.
Mark Wahlberg does a decent job as the broken man of the hour, yet for most of the film, he reminded me nothing of the character he was portraying. He was just another angsty Mark Wahlberg character. There is not nearly enough vengeance during the vast majority of the film for him to feel like Payne. Max Payne is a man who snaps and goes on a rampage. This Payne is much more depressed. He feels like he is still holding onto something. He just becomes another cliché detective with a gun. Max Payne gets his answers through hot lead and super slow-mo, not through dead-end leads and feeling sorry for himself. Thankfully, though, there was a ten-minute segment where he began to hint at the character he was playing, but his drug-induced rampage is far too temporary. The two gunfights in the movie are excellent, but last for maybe 3 minutes each. This is the only point of the film that really got my interest, and it was over far too quickly.
On the story front, I felt somehow disconnected from the tragic events of Max’s past. Perhaps because I knew it was coming, or perhaps because it was just so poorly (and repeatedly) translated to the screen. The story has a new “twist” every step of the way, and it all comes together with a pretty generic explanation that doesn’t draw any emotion whatsoever. The villains in the film are pretty bland, as well, and the big betrayal isn’t as much of a shock as it is a “Really? Are you serious?” moment.
The introduction of the valkyries was something that I had puzzled about over every trailer I had seen for this movie. There were no winged demons in the games, so why are they everywhere in the trailers? Well, they’re everywhere in the movie as well, and their purpose is, shall we say, less than adequately explained. There’s some talk by the overly-knowledgeable tattoo artist (which reminds me of a Ben Stiller cameo in its absurdity) about the creatures, yet their actual purpose in this world remains fairly fuzzy.
Another notable failure in this movie include the casting of Mila Kunis as Mona Sax. Now, for anyone who knows Mona from the games, this is a very obvious mistake. There is no resemblance in appearance or demeanor between the two. For others, watching the movie will make the mistake clear. I don’t know who thought that Meg Griffin would be a good choice for the beautiful femme fatale, but her bouncy voice doesn’t lend itself to semi-automatic weaponry and grit. Fail.
For fans of the games, there are enough small references to the game (the nightclub, for one) to merit an eventual watching. For anyone else, though, you probably shouldn’t bother. The acting is sub-par, the plot is flimsy and too convoluted for its own good, and there are practically no traces of film noir to be found. The storytelling style of the games is far superior, and without even an attempt at some gritty narration, this movie fails in its attempt to recreate this action hero’s journey. Certainly not worth a trip to the theater and $10.
