BY Linda Winsh-Bolard
The film is based on video game; the game itself was influenced by pulp fiction. It is a”third” person game, the player is not one of the characters, he is a manipulator.
In the game the wife of a policeman, Max Payne, is killed, along with their child, by drug users high on a new drug called Valkyr. Payne, unable to come to terms with what has expired, attempts to find the third, missing killer. He is later framed for the death of his colleague, and pursues revenge that will include mafia, the Russian mob, devil worshipers and assorted other dead bodies.
There is roughly 12 hours of the game that needed to be condensed to a film time frame. The mafia and devil worshipers did not survive, but Valkyrs did, as a sort of winged evil spirits.
It starts with a flashback: “I don’t believe in heaven. I believe in pain. I believe in fear. I believe in death” says Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne while he is disappearing under the ice floating in what is presumably Hudson River.
DEA agent, Max Payne, has buried his wife and child 3 years ago. Ever since, while working cold cases, he is looking for answers. Now a new drug, which is killing its users, appeared on the streets. Evil dark spirits carry the users away, or so it seems. Max gets interested and meets beautiful, unchaste Russian Natasha (Olga Kurylenko). When she dies, he begins to connect the drug to murders. Then his former partner Alex Balder (Donal Logue) gets killed and Max is being framed for his death. Max is starting to suspect that the drug might be linked to the murder of his family. He is set to look for the guilty and for revenge.
Mila Kunis plays Natasha’s sister, Mona. Cloaked in black, she purrs at Max: “You know what I do for living.” Showing her weaponry is instrumental; otherwise you might get some more likely ideas about what she might be doing. Beau Bridge plays an ex-cop, BB Hensley, who acts as Max’s friend. He appears to enjoy himself in that part. Chris O’Donnell is Jason Colvin, an executive in the pharmaceutical company where Max's wife worked. Softly malleable he comes across as a typical ladder climbing clerk, not as a conspirator. Olga Kurylenko wears, again, a short, slinky dress and high boots, there is really nothing more to her part. We might hope that at least her wardrobe will improve with time. Mila Kunis is nearly unrecognizable in her new make-up. Her part is small, and again, supportive. Mark Wahlberg is understated, detached and efficient about the same as he was in The Shooter.
Director John Moore is a stylist who said that repeated computer effects bore him (me too). Nevertheless, the active part of the game known as “bullet time”, where the picture slows down while the character dodges bullets, largely remains. Time slows down as the bullet travels across the screen to its target. Time also seem to slow down for the snow. Fat, slow, falling snowflakes crowd the screen only to be replaced by more realistic rain. It is cold in Max’s world and dark, ice and crumbling buildings contrasting with corporate sleekness. Yet, the intended film noire atmosphere does not happen. Glistening sweat and empty harbors alone do not constitute film noire. There is plenty of shootouts, blizzards of bullets land in the snow, walls, office furniture and people; all nicely staged.
Moore preserved another aspect of the game: within the game are hidden scenes that the player unlocks, and after the entire title sequence runs through, there is a scene set to unlock Max Payne 2.
It is not the worst adaptation of a video game. It is really quite filmic, and that is nice. Albeit it is not an exceptional film. Among the avalanche of action films, it rates about average. The characters are underdeveloped. Nobody cries over the dead figures on computer screen, and I doubt anybody would be moved to tears by who they see on the screen. The plot is confused and the explanation rather convulsed. And the picture did not evoke Sin City, either in staging, or in camera work, or in the biting comment on the society it attempts to portray.
Those who love the game will have to accept the compromises. How far it will affect their liking of the film is personal. Those who do not know the game will see an action film. Not a memorable one.
An uncut version, called, according to John Moore, Gamer Dedicated Cut, should eventually be available on DVD.
