Max Payne (2008)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

John Moore

Writers (WGA):

Beau Thorne (screenplay)
Sam Lake (video game by Remedy Entertainment and 3-D Realms Entertainment)

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin out to avenge her sister's death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Police Detective | Ex Partner | Corporation | Assassin

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	Max Payne
Mila Kunis	...	Mona Sax
Beau Bridges	...	BB Hensley
Ludacris	...	Lt. Jim Bravura (as Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges)
Chris O'Donnell	...	Jason Colvin
Donal Logue	...	Det. Alex Balder
Amaury Nolasco	...	Jack Lupino
Kate Burton	...	Nicole Horne
Olga Kurylenko	...	Natasha Sax
Rothaford Gray	...	Joe Salle
Joel Gordon	...	Owen Green
Jamie Hector	...	Lincoln DeNeuf
Andrew Friedman	...	Trevor Duncan
Marianthi Evans	...	Michelle Payne
Nelly Furtado	...	Christa Balder

Also Known As:

Max Payne (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

Spanish | English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44716) | UK:15 (uncut) | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA (2008) | Hungary:16 (originial rating) | New Zealand:M | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R16 (re-rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | South Africa:13V | Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:15 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | France:-12 | Argentina:16 | Peru:14 | Malaysia:18PL | Germany:18 (Extended Director's Cut on DVD) | Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | India:A | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Iceland:16 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Bay Station - 64 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Abandon Entertainment

Trivia:

Despite the games being based around slo-motion, or "bullet time" shootouts, there are only two slo-motion sequences in the whole movie.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the Roscoe Street Station bathroom, Max fires a revolver 6 or 7 times (you hear an echoing boom when the scene cuts to the mugger running on the tracks). Max is using a Taurus Judge revolver, which holds 5 bullets.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Max Payne: I don't believe in Heaven. I believe in Pain. I believe in Fear. I believe in Death.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Entourage: Gotta Look Up to Get Down (#5.7)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Oscar 1208

From a die hard fan: this is a terrible film

I've had the pleasure of beating both Max Payne 1 and 2, so let us start this off by saying I like the games a great deal. At the very least I expected a dumb, entertaining action film. What I was shocked to find was a film so poorly made I am impressed that Mr. Moore actually put his name on the credits.

In the games Max is pushed over the edge and goes on a rampage of survival and revenge. He works his way up from person to person and every once in awhile, he has crazy dream sequences. Throughout there is a dry wit and extremely overdone noir dialog. It's so over the top, it's hard not to like.

I have no idea why the filmmakers chose not to follow that fairly basic plot setup because the replacement is absolutely horrific. The movie wobbles from scene to scene, alternating from making no sense at all to making Max and every other character in the movie look like complete morons.

What's further astounding is that the film can't even get the basics down. This is the worst directed film I've seen in over a year. It's pretty but the action is sparse and boring. Conversations are so badly shot it's no wonder that the whole theater was laughing at most of the scenes. At least one actor turns in a performance so stiff he should be declared legally dead.

And as for the 'staying true to the game' part? Well, they had some slow motion shots, but beyond that, all the style, humor, and over the top action is missing.

Alright, I'm done. I still can't believe the film was that bad. Oy!