Movie Review--Max Payne

Let me start off by saying I have only seen three movies (that I can think of) that were based on video games: Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, and just recently, Max Payne. Tomb Raider, in my opinion, was nothing like the game, and it was pretty forgettable. Silent Hill was pretty decent and had some elements of the game in it. Max Payne, on the other hand, actually tried to explain some of the background of the game (things that you discover as you play said game). As always, I apologize for being elusive, but, you know, someone might want to run out and see it.

Anyway, some things I found a little unrealistic: Max's wife's murder has been a cold case for how long now? Was it three years? Why is it that all of a sudden another murder is linked to it years later? The persons behind the murders seem to come out of the woodwork at just the right times. Are we to assume that they've been quietly doing their own thing, evading the cops for so long?

Side note: You just have to ignore the fact that Marky Mark of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch plays Payne. Otherwise, you won't take the movie seriously at all.

Really, it was a pretty decent movie, if you like that sort of thing (and I tend to). I thought some of the fight scenes were a little overdone (as they totally are in the video game). And, as a purist, I always hate it when movies leave scenes out. There is some crazy navigating around on the tops of buildings that is in the game, but is underplayed in the movie. There are also several plot changes that, unfortunately, I can't really disclose. Plus, the ending was different. One thing the moviemakers hit head-on was the setting scenery. I know this sounds weird, but many of the scenes looked like they came out of the video game. And I mean this as a compliment. The cinematography was just really cool. Yeah, everybody wears black, and nobody seems to know how to turn on a light (but what can you expect--it's Max Payne).

All in all, it's a pretty good movie. I saw it on a Tuesday night discount ($5.50 for the show + free popcorn), and I completely felt it was worth it. Let's put it this way, though I had to go to the bathroom about halfway through the show, I sat in agony until the end of the movie. I didn't want to miss anything. If you like noir stuff, action movies, and movies based on video games/graphic novels, then I definitely recommend Max Payne.

But the Jason Bourne series still ranks #1 in action films, in my book.