Painkillers make me happy
Having played the Max Payne games years ago, I didn’t really feel the connection when the movie adaptation was released in cinemas. Still I was eager to watch it the first weekend it came out and I can simply say it was a warm welcome to a familiar atmosphere from the past.
IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467197/
It’s really interesting how they recreated everything for the movies. The visuals resemble a lot the video game and reminded me of specific levels and settings. The core storyline of the game was converted to a viewable screenplay. The hired actors where drafted suitably - everyone resembled their in-game persona.
Even the smaller details, like the way the snow is animated and the “dream” sequences are trademarks for the name and they were all pulled off elegantly. I particularly liked Mark Walberg’s performance - I initially had doubts that he would capture the pain in Payne but thankfully I was wrong….
Not to say that the movie is perfect though. A couple of issues really bug me and I think they are fatal flaws that will stop letting this movie become a classic. For one, the use of bullet time is totally circumstantial and not an integral part of the action sequences. My personal evaluation is that the director didn’t know how to use bullet time and just slapped in a couple of slow speed shots only because it was in the game. As a result, the scenes that use bullet time often seem to stretch more than they should and other scenes where the fast action dictates the use of bullet time (but in fact isn’t), simply past too fast - before the viewer can absorb all the details. As the Matrix is the definitive example of this kind of technique, this movie is a hit and miss in that regards.
The other biggy that really comes as a surprise for me is why they didn’t put a comic strip for the introduction of the story as both games have it (heck, even the Marvel movies do it…). They actually tried it for a trailer as shown below but didn’t want to include this narration in the movie - I can only wonder why:
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Lastly, I cannot understand why the “bad guy” is killed so easily, leaving the movie without a real climax for the ending. No big boss fight, no nothing. If I remember correctly one of the games ended with a helicopter battle. Yet in the movie the helicopter is called back and never confronts Max Payne. And what happened with Mona? The last time I saw her she was entering an elevator?
!!!!!!!!!!! END Spoiler Alert !!!!!!!!!!!
The ending is unsatisfying but that is in sync with the rest of the movie. Compared to the game, the movie has very few gunfights - sparse and with weak energy. It seems as if the movie is a compilation of just the cinematics of the game, leaving all the gameplay action aside.
As far as the other innovations of the movie, introducing new mythical elements, new characters etc. I don’t really have a problem with them - they seem to comply with the overall atmosphere that derives from the game and has been portrayed in the movie exceptionally well. Generally speaking, I liked the movie, I recommend you go see it and even buy it when it comes out on DVD. It’s one of those stories that we’ll frequently like re-visiting every now and then - I would compare it with something like “Underworld” rather than a more “heavy-weight” title.
