Max Payne: Movie Review

When Max Payne came out for the PC as a game, it was brilliant. The story was top notch, the pacing was fantastic, and the action was great. Not to mention the signature jump-to-the-side-while-shooting-then-rolling mechanic that worked very well it's bullet-time feature. So, when I heard about the movie coming out, I was happy. Especially when Mark Wahlberg was to lead it. It turns out, it's another game to film adaption that did not worked well.

Max Payne is looking for the killer that killed his wife and child during a robbery. Along the way, he met dead ends. That was until, a recently gorgeous looking Olga Kurylenko was also murdered, proving there is a connection between his wife's robbery, and the recent case. Along the way, things get surreal. That is where things fell apart in this movie.

To blame Wahlberg won't be the right thing to say. Rather, the story hampered him down, which really shows in lots of scenes. The pacing was completely off, and I'm sure people wanted more of what can be seen in the movie. The nightmare scene is missing (which I believe would've scared all those 18 and above people as it did on me when I played the game) along with his signature jump. Though bullet time was there, but it wasn't used. Perhaps John Moore thought it shouldn't have to be used because lots of other movies already did.

The rest of the actors felt like hits and misses. Certain characters work really well, like Ludacris. But some feel totally off. Though Olga was short in this movie, I think she did her portrayal the best. That is even comparing to Mila Kunis' Mona Sax.

In 1 hour and 30 minutes, I was really wishing for things to go further. Why couldn't it have been 2 hours? What was the problem? There were many more scenes that can be included to make things work. But it's not here. It totally feels like an incomplete movie. A sad truth really, for gamers who would've wanted more action and more engagement to Max's grief.

In a way, I wouldn't recommend watching this movie. It didn't make me feel anywhere happy about it. It should be pulled back and redone again. It definitely could use a lot more pain and painkillers. At least homage to the gamers and the movie itself would've done justice for the whole franchise.