Max Payne (2008)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

John Moore

Writers (WGA):

Beau Thorne (screenplay)
Sam Lake (video game by Remedy Entertainment and 3-D Realms Entertainment)

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin out to avenge her sister's death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Assassin | Police Detective | Hallucination | New York City

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	Max Payne
Mila Kunis	...	Mona Sax
Beau Bridges	...	BB Hensley
Ludacris	...	Lt. Jim Bravura (as Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges)
Chris O'Donnell	...	Jason Colvin
Donal Logue	...	Det. Alex Balder
Amaury Nolasco	...	Jack Lupino
Kate Burton	...	Nicole Horne
Olga Kurylenko	...	Natasha Sax
Rothaford Gray	...	Joe Salle
Joel Gordon	...	Owen Green
Jamie Hector	...	Lincoln DeNeuf
Andrew Friedman	...	Trevor Duncan
Marianthi Evans	...	Michelle Payne
Nelly Furtado	...	Christa Balder

Also Known As:

Max Payne (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

100 min | 103 min (unrated version)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English | Russian | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44716) | UK:15 (uncut) | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA (2008) | Hungary:16 (originial rating) | New Zealand:M | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R16 (re-rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | South Africa:13V | Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:15 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | France:-12 | Argentina:16 | Peru:14 | Malaysia:18PL | Germany:18 (Extended Director's Cut on DVD) | Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | India:A | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Iceland:16 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Bay Station - 64 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Abandon Entertainment

Trivia:

Very little of the movie was actually shot on green screen. Instead, director John Moore opted to shoot in Toronto during the night, in order to add extra reality to his actors' reactions.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The NYPD forensic examiners' jackets have "CSI" on them. The NYPD forensics department is called the Crime Scene Unit, so the jackets should say "CSU".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Max Payne: I don't believe in Heaven. I believe in Pain. I believe in Fear. I believe in Death.

Movie Connections:

References The Public Enemy (1931)

Soundtrack:

Room 405

oh my god what happened

No spoiler here - it doesn't need one, its already spoiled!

OK so I am biased, having played both games to completion several times over I loved them both - dark, gritty, twisted, film noir greatness. the games, as most will no doubt know, were almost a scripted story board that was ready to go as a movie - seriously it should have been easy - don't bother with script writers - the script was already there, the games are a screen play! even down to camera angles and lighting - it should have been a no brainer. I would love to know what would have happened in the production crew and actors had actually played the game, but alas I suspect they had a treatment to work with and they just ran with that - Mark was an awesome choice for the role of Max but there it stops.

My big question is if your going to make a film of a great game why risk alienating the original fan base by not sticking with the already existing story line and instead running with an "off the shelf" plot (that was on the shelf for a good reason - it sucked!) and just putting in the appropriate names.

So whats next? do we have to now watch as Hollywood works it's way through more games - maybe Halflife? or Deus Ex - both could make awesome films but if this is what they are going to do with them why bother.

Simply put if your going to make a movie from an award winning game that sold in the millions - STICK WITH THE f*&KING STORY! games designers spend a lot of time making great games with great stories - gamers spend a lot of time enjoying them where the hell does some half arsed hack of a director get off knocking out crap like this. Yes its a given you name a film after a game with this sort of following and it will sell seats in the cinema - but do a good job of it- stick to the story and it will be a blockbuster! - it can be done - they said that Lord of the Rings and The Watchmen couldn't be done - but they were and were fantastic - granted they aren't games but the principle is the same - you research the material of the story before you make the film - get some of the original artists and creative producers involved instead of knocking out crap like this, it's not fair on the fans - and thats who the film is made for surely - do it well and they will market the game via word of mouth far better than any amount of trailers and hype will ever do and that means more money for the producers, I really don't understand why you would do it any other way.