SCI FI PI

Director John Moore
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges
Rated MA 15 +
Released Oct 16



Funky Bunch Reunion. Denied.


Do you not have enough slo-mo gun play in your life? Feel a bit let down by the current crop of under-stylised violence as entertainment movies? Well huddle fearfully in the dark no more compadre - salvation is at hand!

It's easy to be mean to this game to movie translation - but there's a lot to like - if you like that sort of thing. What looked to be a tectonic shift in the game to movie crossover genre has actually come out with a twist - the game has gone to the movie - and on to the comic book. That is essentially what Max Payne is - a comic book movie, filled with comic book heroes, comic book villains and the spectacular visuals that you'd expect in a top notch graphic novel.

For what it is, it's fine. But you really need to be after what it 'is' to really enjoy it.

Primarily, you'll be wanting those frozen moments where the pulling of the trigger and the death of an enemy are locked in time. You'll be wanting the hallucinatory overtones of the Valkyries, those 'angels' of Norse Mythology who retrieved the honoured slain from the battlefields and took them to Valhalla.

You'll be wanting your lone-wolf hero and his one-man quest for both absolution and revenge. You'll be wanting the 'other woman', dangerous, sexy, but not to be touched. And you'll be wanting a touch of the supernatural.

What's interesting about Max Payne is the fact that where it could quite conceivably have taken us into 'the other world', it stays pretty firmly on planet earth, which you really would not have expected at the beginning of the film. Although, to be fair, the amazing hallucinations make that point moot. Frankly, there are some absolutely spectacular special effects sequences (some completely cheesy, others just plain jaw dropping) and some very nicely created photography. It's a lovely film to look at, with a wintry urban palette.



"Kill Meg?" What do you mean Mila by, 'kill Meg?'


Mark Wahlberg proves reliable as an action man and Mila Kunis is taking great strides into the leading lady role - although she may have overstepped the mark on this occasion, with a few hiccups in her 'tough as nails' routine. That said, her role is one of paper-thin proportions and comes with the added bonus of glaring logic holes. Beau Bridges pops up in a meaty role that lets audiences see a different side to what is usually an affable persona.

Possibly the problem with the movie is its lack of sophisticated storytelling. The 'clues' are almost insulting, and you'll have very little trouble in predicting how it all ends. There is one twist, which involves the aforementioned sfx sequences, but that's about it.

Still, this movie is not a complete disaster. It's a familiar story - a cop on the trail of the killers of his wife and daughter, but lost without the family whose death drives him. There are shades of Robocop in here, but there is also a heavy-handedness that takes the film into comic book territory. It is this obviousness that will tend to grate for most viewers, whereas those looking for a brainless, stylish action-filled popcorn-muncher will be reasonably satisfied.