Mark Wahlberg is not having a good year. Fresh of the catastrophic performance of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening comes his next high-profile lead, the movie version of a popular Playstation series. On the strength of this release though the man badly needs a new agent as Max Payne is a terrible, terrible film. Tedious, depressing and with a completely illogical plot, it sees the Oscar nominated actor's career floundering only a year since he wowed everyone in The Departed.
Action, Or Rather, The Lack Of It
This won't come as much of a shock to anyone out there who has sat through the likes of Resident Evil, Tomb Raider or Alone In The Dark as thus far, Hollywood has failed horribly when it comes to converting games to the big screen. This time however it's especially galling - the original was clearly in debt to cinema, boasting a rich film noir-influence and some incredibly violent set pieces.
Strange then that while the game was overflowing with high-octane gun battles, it takes almost an hour for Wahlberg to start trading bullets with his enemies. Until then, the film largely consists of Max moping about New York but the wait is not worth the payoff. Everyone he faces - gang members, SWAT Teams, security guards - couldn't shoot a white whale on a black background. The only time he even comes close to death, an ally turns up to save him and then betrays him seconds later in order to kill him. Yes, it's that kind of movie.
Max Payne: Bullet Time Junkie
This isn't helped by the inevitable appearance of bullet-time, director John Moore slowing the fire fights down for dramatic effect but scuppering them instead. One particular stunt involving Max falling backwards while firing a shotgun over his head is treated like the winning goal in the FA Cup but takes so long and looks so ridiculous, it's more laughable than impressive. John Woo would not approve.
That aside, what really ruins the film is a poor script and some haphazard editing. Why exactly does Max's conversation with a tattoo artist get cut off halfway through? Why does the trio of leather-clad heavies following Mila Kunis around disappear with no explanation? Actually, why does Mila Kunis's character do that as well? More to the point, how exactly did it take a homicide Detective so long to figure out who was behind his wife's death when the average movie-goer will most likely figure it out within about ten minutes?
The Fall Of Max Payne
At the end of the day all this film amounts to is a wasted opportunity. Max Payne is so depressing it's suffocating and at one hundred minutes drastically overstays its welcome. While the game felt fresh, original and exciting back in 2001, this adaptation feels like nothing but a shoddy rip off of a dozen better movies. Mark Wahlberg reportedly never played the game before making this movie and if this is the finished product, you have to wonder if indeed anyone did?
