Will The Real Max Payne Please Stand Up?

My pal Jarrod and I went to see Max Payne tonight. Max Payne is the big screen adaptation of one of my favorite video games of all time.

Honestly I was a little worried about this movie at first for several reasons. One reason is the unclothed young man to the left (Marky Mark Wahlberg) playing the part of Max, a brooding, depressed, and haunted police detective. He did a passable job. Not Oscar worthy but decent. The second reason was the trailer for the film looked all demonic and that is not even close to what the storyline of the Max Payne video game was about. Finally I was worried that this movie was going to be a lump of special effect laden shit with bad acting. Well none of the actors broke any new ground but my final call on this movie is that it entertained me, and that's what it's all about.

All that being said, the movie sticks pretty close to the story line of the video game. Be forewarned, this is not a kill, kill, kill, everyone dies movie. There are a few action scenes, but at it's heart this is a cop movie. Follow the clues, slowly piece together what is going on, then BAM! Plot twist! The beginning is dreadfully slow setting up the story, but perhaps that is because I already knew what the final outcome was going to be.

Quite honestly I expected (and hoped for) an R rating. After watching it I don't see how it wasn't rated R. Only one F-Bomb was dropped and the language was no coarser than what you will find on cable television after 9 o'clock at night. There was violence and gun play, which we are desensitized to. Some of the imagery later on in the movie is quite dark and twisted and there is a scene of what can only be described as torture. It wasn't gruesome torture mind you, but the scene was pretty intense. I'm not a parent but I found myself sitting there thinking that there is no way I would let my 10 year old kid watch this. It was that freaky. I'm getting old though.

All in all it was a good story, and one that needed to be told. The director did a passable job of translating the dark and dreary New York of the game into the film. A lot of non gamers think that video games are stupid and the movie translations are pure ass. 2006's Silent Hill is a perfect example of this. Some would argue that 2005's Doom is also garbage, but I did enjoy Doom somewhat.

Max Payne will probably be in and out of theaters quickly and it may not make a ton of dough. That's not the point. The point is Max Payne got made, and that's a good thing.

-Twiz