Video game adaptation is bloody but boring.
2 Comments
10/17/08
Max Payne (2008)
18
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:124
Fresh:22
Rotten:102
Average Rating:3.8/10
Consensus: While it boasts some stylish action, Max Payne suffers severely from an illogical plot and overdirection.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Oct 16, 2008 Wide
US Box Office: $40,632,110
Synopsis: Rockstar Games' antihero Max Payne gets his own movie with this video game adaptation. Mark Wahlberg (THE DEPARTED) plays the titular cop who is still trying to get over the death of his family... [More]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Director: John Moore
Reviews for Max Payne
That the freaky angels all over the ads aren't even real is akin to if audiences had flocked to see Jurassic Park back in 1993 and discovered that the dinosaurs only appeared in a couple brief dream sequences.
10/17/08
There were moments that needed some explanation and characters that needed a quite a bit of fleshing out. But it was violent and fun and since that's why I played the game, I left the theater satisfied.
10/17/08
I don’t have a problem with brainless entertainment playing it safe and overloading on clichés but Max Payne makes the fatal mistake of being clichéd and boring.
10/17/08
Sexy girls and lots of automatic weapons are involved in an occasionally coherent plot.
10/17/08
Top CriticYou can't help but wonder where the fine actor in The Departed and even Invincible has gone. It's not been a good year for Wahlberg: First The Happening, and now this.
10/17/08
Top CriticMaybe somebody decided the movie was already so convoluted and leaden that throwing in a few swooping, screeching valkyries could only help. They do not.
10/17/08
The moviegoers are passive hostages on a long ride they've taken so many times before. So gameboys are advised to man their PlayStations this weekend; action-movie fans in search of red meat can wait for the inevitably more graphic DVD version.
10/17/08
A movie that cares much more for poetic choreography in explosive gunfights than gaping lapses of logic in a flimsy crime narrative.
10/17/08
There are several old adages actors should follow when considering a film role: never work with children, cute barnyard animals or do movie adaptations of video games.
10/17/08
Max just drags on as it drags you down. If you stay and watch the endless end credits, there's a short scene that hints a sequel is coming. That's what I call real pain.
10/17/08
Maybe fans of the game will be okay with the cinematic adaptation but for those who aren't new to Max and his world, this isn't an impressive introduction. Clunky action, chaotic plotting, and embarrassing dialogue are not ways to impress newcomers.
10/17/08
Mark Wahlberg, who has proved himself a very capable actor, seems to have nominated himself for the Russell Crowe Lack of Charisma Award, and is running a pretty convincing campaign.
10/17/08
A weak little sister to Sin City.
10/17/08
No amount of generosity could excuse the levels of ineptitude on display here.
10/17/08
Dark, moody, extremely twisted and hard to enjoy on any level.
10/17/08
Miserable, in every sense of the word.
10/17/08
Top CriticDirector John Moore pays homage to the video game by pushing the slo-mo button during action sequences in a fashion that would make John Woo weep tears of sorrow. He's not the only one.
10/17/08
It's stylishly directed by John Moore, and his actors don't embarrass themselves, despite the iffy premise.
10/17/08
Let's hope next time they get a literate script, an engaging plot, a better-suited supporting cast and a more restrained director.
10/17/08
Latest News for Max Payne
January 21, 2009:
Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...
January 19, 2009:
RT on DVD: Max Payne, Saw V, King Kong on Blu-ray
Mark Wahlberg brings maximum pain to DVD this week in the critically-punished Max Payne, although new horror titles Saw V and Repo! The Genetic Opera didn't fare much better on... More...
November 14, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Is Zack And Miri Make A Porno On The Money (Shot)? Is Max Payne Maxing Or Taxing?
This week in the UK cinema screens we have Kevin Smith's latest, the intuitively titled Zack And Miri Make A Porno. Marky Mark Wahlberg stars in the video game adaptation Max... More...
October 19, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Max feels no Payne at No. 1
With the elections just a few weeks away, W. seemed ready to rule the box office this weekend, but it was Fox's weekend to break out of its slump, with two of its openers... More...
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