DVD Reviews

Max Payne – Blu-ray Review

By Patrick Luce Feb 4, 2009, 16:32 GMT

Max payne (Wahlberg) is a maverick cop with little regard for rules and nothing left to lose. Hell-bent on revenge hes determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his family but his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmarish journey where dark fantasy collides w/stark reality. ...more

Max Payne looks great on Blu-ray and has a moody atmosphere that seems to hang on every aspect of the film. Sadly, the story and acting doesn’t match the film’s great visual style.

Based on the hit video game (which I have never played and don’t really know what the story was about), Max Payne was directed by John Moore (2004's Flight of the Phoenix) with a screenplay by Beau Thorne. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Chris O'Donnell, Donal Logue, Olga Kurylenko, and Amaury Nolasco.

Whalberg takes on the role of Max Payne – a cop working in the cold case squad while trying to find the people responsible for the murder of his wife and child. He was once a great street cop, but the murders pushed him over the edge. Now, he works at night using any means needed to get information that will lead to the murders.

His investigation slowly takes him to a party where he hooks up with Natasha Sax (Kurylenko). She wants a little more than to chat so Payne sends her home where she is promptly killed. Payne sees similarities between her death and his wife’s murder and starts tracking the killers of both women.

He also runs into Natasha’s sister, Mona Sax (Kunis), who is an assassin/hitman and helps with his quest to find the killers. As the investigation unfolds, you start to see some kind of spiritual aspects coming into the story with angels (floating in black shadow) and Norse mythology coming into play. Sadly, this all gets scrapped for just another typical good cop versus bad guy plot that ruins any chance the film had of being good.

I liked the look of Max Payne, and was really enjoying all the supernatural trappings that were making up the storyline. The acting was about what you would expect from its stars, but the look of the film reminded me of Sin City, 300, and even Constantine (which I have slowly started to like after multiple viewings).

The film is filled with dark shadows and a glossy feel. It looks extremely good on Blu-ray, and the format helps sell the supernatural aspects that make up the first part of the story.

Unfortunately, Max Payne also proves that even Blu-ray’s great picture and sound can’t make a bad movie good. The film loses any momentum it has going for it with a story that just runs off the tracks by the ending, acting that is borderline awful, and editing that makes the story jump around to the point it is almost impossible to follow.

Whalberg is comfortable in the action role, and does his best in the film. At times, he seems as lost as the viewer, and instead of acting just kind of reads his lines. Other times, he looks right at the camera with a befuddled look and you can’t tell if he is wondering how he got himself in this movie or if he is acting.

Kunis just seems to be an afterthought to the whole film and thrown in so Max will have someone sexy to run around with and have a possible new love interest. She isn’t bad in the film, but seems out of place during the action sequences (someone should have taught her how to hold a gun better since she is an assassin/hitman).

The Blu-ray comes loaded with special features including the theatrical/uncut version of the film. I watched the uncut version, but didn’t really see anything that would have been so bad to deserve being cut to get a rating. We also get a Picture-in-Picture behind the scenes look at the making of the film, commentary, and a graphic novel.

Max Payne might be a film that grows on me after multiple viewings (like Constantine did), but the first viewing just left me wanting more from the story. The concept is good, but I wish they could have kept the supernatural elements rather than the twist that ruined the plot for me.