Max Payne

By: Gerard Iribe 1.29.2009

The Movie Itself:
Max Payne, based off of the 2001 video game of the same name, takes place in a very dark world, where no one really gives a shit about anything or anyone. Self preservation seems to be the running theme, no matter who gets the short end of the stick. Max Payne plays a cop who’s on a quest for vengeance, hunting down those responsible for his family’s murders. Of course, since he stirred up too much crap, he's been demoted to a file clerk in the basement of the police station.

Payne follows some leads, which lead to encounters with some “dope heads”, a sleazy pimp, and a junkie with a black heart of gold named Natasha Sax. She’s played by Olga Kurylenko, most recently of “Quantum of Solace fame.” Natasha may have some leads for Max, of course she dances around the subject before getting kicked out of the pad. Max, she’s hot! On her way to get her next fix, Natasha meets a grisly “supernatural” end. Donal Logue (Alex) is Payne’s former partner, and may have some evidence that will help him. Of course Alex will also meet a grisly end.

Enter Mona Sax (Mila Kunis), a Mobster, who like Max, wants revenge for the death of a family member. Okay, I’m trying to trying to be linear, but the film doesn’t quite allow that. I will say that it’s a cop tale, vengeance/vigilante tale, with a giant heaping serving of some serious film noir. It’s stylish up the ass. We can even throw in some supernatural elements to the mix, and I think that was my biggest draw to the film. It should of been called “Max Payne: Metaphors.” They’re all over the place, from dead bodies at the bottom of the river to valkyrie death angels, etc... It’s a “gumbo.”

That’s probably why it works. It wreaks of style at every turn. It makes no apologies, and it’s very sure of itself. People ripped the shit out of this movie, because it bared little resemblance to the video game. I think that’s a valid reason, then again, if it was based off of the video game you’d get the same reaction. Beggars can’t be choosers, and sometimes you just can’t win. Personally, I played and finished the first game, then tuned out. As a filmgoer, I was impressed enough with what I saw in the trailers, and was blown away by the final product. I do think that the “fanboys” really need to let it go. Pretend that the game doesn’t exist, perhaps?

Max Payne, to put it bluntly, is “style over substance.” Anyone trying to reason, argue, or rationalize, will be sorely disappointed. It’s one gigantic piece of subjective art...yes, I just romanticized Max Payne.
Rating: 8/10

The Presentation:
A lovely presentation! The video is near reference, with the audio portion being reference, I had to duck a couple of times. The sound design is badass!

I'm in love with the cinematography, and production design. It's a feast for the eyes.

*drools*
Rating: 10/10

Max and Mona

The Extras:
The features, it's a pretty loaded disc, in my opinion. We've got both cuts of the film, my preference being the Unrated--every little drop of blood counts. The graphic novel is a nice touch, it fleshes out Michelle Payne's story arc. I really enjoyed the 2 part documentary called "Picture." John Moore cracks me up, he's like a vulgar version of Peter Jackson, but Irish, so he's very amusing to watch. The commentary is very standard, and I didn't care for it, because it's more of a "technical" one, and if you've heard one then you've heard them all. The technical ones, that is.
Rating: 9/10

Overall:
In this day and age, it's a bit refreshing to see a film, based off of a video game actually try and take itself seriously. Whether it succeeded or failed, I think it's valid just for that.
Rating: 9/10