Max Payne is a dull, derivative cheap looking adaptation of a video game.Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a NYPD detective investigating the death of his wife and baby.The film has a neo noir setting but Wahlberg is a blank, he just turned up for the pay cheque.It has almost a monochrome type washed out scenes, a bit like Sin City.The script is inane as Payne's investigation leads him to super soldiers addicted to an experimental drug and crooked cops. As this is a video game adaptation you have long drawn out John Woo inspired shooting sequences.

I finished watching Max Payne last night after having to start and stop it a couple of times due to other things being much more important than watching it. Needless to say, I think I understand why Mark Wahlberg's face looked like it did throughout the movie...he was in pain too.Of course, this movie has been out for 9 years now...so why watch it now...I think mostly it was because I had it on my long list, and finally had a few minutes here and there to waste. I'm a gamer, and Max Payne (as well as it's shorter sequel Max Payne 2) stand out for me as milestones in my gaming history. The presentation and development of Max's character and backstory were top-notch and the ending was gratifying, not to mention all of the action in between. Based on Hollywood's game adaption history, I wasn't expecting much at all from this, although Wahlberg is one of my favorite go-to actors when I just want to see good action. Wahlberg tries really hard to bring Max's grit, pain, and determination to the screen, but he just never quite captures it. Most of the movie he tries pulling a Stallone in First Blood, rarely speaking, and when he does, the dialogue is terse and unemotional. Mila Kunis tries really hard to come off as a sexy but streetwise woman with a rough edge but all I kept waiting for was for her to either start talking about Jim Beam or cracking a joke. Trying to not compare her to the Mona in the game was more difficult than Wahlberg as Max.Beau Bridges...well, I'm not even going there. I think the only reason he still gets acting jobs is because of who his dad was. Ludicrous's portrayal as Lt Bravura was laughable to say the least...and Chris O'Donnell's Jason Colvin...he must have needed mortgage money at the time (it was before NCIS:LA...).The effects are so-so, and the "homage" to bullet-time was pretty ludicrous...you'll see what I mean when it happens. I just had to roll my eyes.I had to force myself to watch this because I'm not going to let a movie beat me. I mean, if I can sit through Leonard Part 6, I can handle anything right?

Max Payne, a cop who's family was murdered apparently for no reason, seeks revenge on the killer who escaped from the crime scene without a trace. Looking like he was searching for ghosts, as many accuse him, he is joined by an assassin with a revenge of her own, in their attempt to solve what seems to be a great conspiracy.To make myself clear from the beginning, this movie is a big disappointment. It had everything it needed to be great, from good actors to a loved franchise, and somehow managed to fail in every attempted aspect. Unlike its video game counterparts, it delivers way too little action, almost no bullet time/slow motion scenes and way too little suspense. It was supposed to be mysterious, full of fighting and shooting with style, as in the game, but somehow, the producers decided that those scenes shouldn't take part. After many boring and predictable events, it decided to bring something interesting by unraveling some of the main intrigue, but it was a bit too little, a bit too late. It brought some thrill with its final part and exaggerated finale but that wasn't enough to raise the bar, even by a small bit.It's another mediocre movie which had more than what it required to be at least good, threw it away and decided to have another "approach". Too bad

Maybe I've just seen too many movies. While Max Payne looked good from every angle, the writers are standing by throughout holding up a banner announcing the next event. Whenever a beautiful girl walks down a dirty dark alley at night... The moment you lay your eyes on Bad Guy #1 (I won't reveal his name), you know it and at the same time, realize what really happened to Max Payne's family and why. You know when a guy wants to come to Max's apartment with some information that he'll be dead before he can impart it. And you know Max will be blamed for just about everything that happens. There will be no surprises. Now it's just a matter of toughing it out to the end. Even the scene near the end when Max is lying on the street freezing to death. My wife told me several minutes before what was going to happen and how, and of course it did. Someone once said a good story should end with a logical, inevitable surprise.That is to say, you're really surprised, yet when you think about it, it was inevitable and you should have seen it coming. Sometimes to be blindsided by that kind of surprise would be nice.