[BLOG] Max Payne: The Review
I have it some time to sink in and I read some other reviews, so I think it's time to do my own review of the movie adaptation of Max Payne. Keep in mind, I may give up some spoilers of varying severity unintentionally, so be warned.
If you go to see Max Payne hoping to expericne the game without the game part, you are going to be very disappointed. Max Payne has the same basic story of the game (cop family dies, cop wants revenge), but how the story plays out is radicially different. In the first 10 minutes, for example, it says that Max transfers to cold case after his family is killed, while in the game he transfers to the DEA. Also, Max dosen't give any witty narration to the story, which was mildly disappointing.
BUT, as a movie, I thought Max Payne was great, 8 out of 10 at least. I'm sure that many of the people who that it was a crappy movie were jidging it based on how closely it followed the game. The movie is good on its own, it dosent need to be a spitting image of the game.
The movie, much like the game, revolves around a drug called Valkyr, which is what the guys who killed Max's kid and wife were on. Max transfers to cold case to try and discover what happened to his family. Max, after following a bad lead from his friend, accidently hires a prostitute named Natacha Sax. After a series of 'interesting' remarks by Natacha, she leaves and is promptly killed outside of Max's apartment. Max's ID is found on the murder site, and he is charged for her murder.
The movie does not rely very much on bullet time, which was one of the great features of the game. Because bullet time is not used in every action sequence, it dosen't seem like a super power, but more of a temporary period of hightened senses, like it is intended to be.
While the movie does contain a MASSIVE plot hole (althought it had to be pointed out to me, I didn't notice it at first), the movie is solid in both action and story and kept me interested the whole time. There are also lots of easter eggs referring to the game thoughout the movie.
The movie has a great cast, consisting of Mark Wahlburg, Nelly Frutatado, and even Ludacris. Many more famous people were in the movie I hear, but if I didn't recognize them, they obviously aren't famous enough. >=p
Overall, I thoughly enjoyed Max Payne, and I would gladly buy an extended cut Blu-ray, as it looks as if the movie was filmed to be R-rated, but it was toned down during post-production. The story is solid, the action is fresh, and the acting is superb. Although it dosen't follow the game nearly as much as it should, it is still a great movie on it's own.
If you go to see Max Payne hoping to expericne the game without the game part, you are going to be very disappointed. Max Payne has the same basic story of the game (cop family dies, cop wants revenge), but how the story plays out is radicially different. In the first 10 minutes, for example, it says that Max transfers to cold case after his family is killed, while in the game he transfers to the DEA. Also, Max dosen't give any witty narration to the story, which was mildly disappointing.
BUT, as a movie, I thought Max Payne was great, 8 out of 10 at least. I'm sure that many of the people who that it was a crappy movie were jidging it based on how closely it followed the game. The movie is good on its own, it dosent need to be a spitting image of the game.
The movie, much like the game, revolves around a drug called Valkyr, which is what the guys who killed Max's kid and wife were on. Max transfers to cold case to try and discover what happened to his family. Max, after following a bad lead from his friend, accidently hires a prostitute named Natacha Sax. After a series of 'interesting' remarks by Natacha, she leaves and is promptly killed outside of Max's apartment. Max's ID is found on the murder site, and he is charged for her murder.
The movie does not rely very much on bullet time, which was one of the great features of the game. Because bullet time is not used in every action sequence, it dosen't seem like a super power, but more of a temporary period of hightened senses, like it is intended to be.
While the movie does contain a MASSIVE plot hole (althought it had to be pointed out to me, I didn't notice it at first), the movie is solid in both action and story and kept me interested the whole time. There are also lots of easter eggs referring to the game thoughout the movie.
The movie has a great cast, consisting of Mark Wahlburg, Nelly Frutatado, and even Ludacris. Many more famous people were in the movie I hear, but if I didn't recognize them, they obviously aren't famous enough. >=p
Overall, I thoughly enjoyed Max Payne, and I would gladly buy an extended cut Blu-ray, as it looks as if the movie was filmed to be R-rated, but it was toned down during post-production. The story is solid, the action is fresh, and the acting is superb. Although it dosen't follow the game nearly as much as it should, it is still a great movie on it's own.
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