Review: Max Payne Flatlines
Wahlberg and company couldn't get it done with this video game adaptation.
Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in 'Max Payne' -
20th Century Fox
Max Payne isn't so much a movie as it is a collection of scenes they're hoping you won't pay much attention to. The writing / producing / directing team cribbed from a collection of interesting films over the past decade, threw them into Max Payne stew, and prayed Mark Wahlberg seemed tough enough to convince teenage boys to tell a friend. The problem isn't that this is a video-game film. Those can work; heck, those have worked. No, the problem is that it's a poorly done film regardless of the source material. Max's wife and child are brutally murdered, leaving Detective Payne a shell of a man. Even three years later he's on the hunt, looking for his wife's killer with cold determination. So far, so good. That plot could work. But we're just thrown into this little world where it rains all the time and Wahlberg's voice never imparts any emotion. I get it, I get it! He's sad and angry. Unfortunately, Wahlberg comes off more numb than anything else, and it's almost impossible to take a journey with someone you have no emotional connection to. For fun I think we should take a look at films Max Payne takes visual and thematic elements from. Ready? Here goes! Gladiator Payback xXx The Bourne Franchise Man on Fire The Matrix Really, they'd have been better off calling this film Max Payne: Run and Shoot because that's what most of the film is about. People run and randomly shoot at things while moody music blasts at you. Every once in awhile a CGI demon flies over to impart a sense of dread. But none of it has much story, logic, or heart. We deserve better. Grade: D Most Popular Stories
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