Movie Review: Max Payne

MAX PAYNE
Main Players: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, et al
Calling the shots: John Moore
Running time: 100mins
What's it about? Detective Max Payne (Wahlberg) is a shell of a man. Still unable to get closure on the seemingly random killings of his wife and child, he has buried himself deep within the Cold Case unit to uncover the truth and serve vengeance. When he gets wind of a possible connection between a current case and his, he will stop at nothing to find the truth.

What did I think? Here comes another one. Video game adaptations have been notoriously bad. This one had potential though. The trailers looked cool and it stars one of the most popular actors today. Get ready to be disappointed.

Visually, this movie is super-cool. Stylish and colour-faded to give it that unique look, it’s a work of art. Billed as “this year’s Sin City”, it’s not quite that, giving you more of a “300” or “30 Days of Nights” feel but like I said it looks cool. The action sequences aren’t too bad either. They’ve unnecessarily overloaded it with bullet-time scenes but apparently that’s what the game is known for.

That’s where the praises end.

The plot line is complete rubbish. It’s not developed very well either. A lot of shit seems to happen without much explanation, confusing you when you don’t need to be and moves along so slowly it’s sleep inducing. If that’s not enough it has the most predictable and obvious conclusion you will find. Trust me; you’ll see it coming a mile away.

As much as I like Mark Wahlberg, I’m not sure if he can carry a movie on his own. He seemed very monotone and almost as if he just phoned it in. Mila Kunis (known for her role in “That 70’s Show”) is seriously miss-cast as the assassin chick and as is Ludacris, as the IA cop. Look out though, for Olga Kurylenko (the new Bond Girl) and Chris O’Donnell, who have short but important and impressive roles.Only thing that can be praised here is how it looks. Even that isn’t enough to keep you interested the whole way. Only check it out if you’re a fan, curious or bored.

2 out of 5.