Though the PG-13 rating of Max Payne limited the amount of violence, the film still succeeds mainly due to the dark, gritty and beautiful cinematography.
Max Payne (2008)
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.
Theatrical Release:Oct 17, 2008 Wide
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... 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 while investigating several murders, while Mila Kunis (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL) costars as an assassin desperate for her own revenge. [More]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Olga Kurylenko, Chris O'Donnell, Donal Logue, Amaury Nolasco, Kate Burton
Director: John Moore
Director: John Moore
Screenwriter: Beau Thorne
Producer: Julie Yorn, Scott Faye, John Moore
Composer: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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Release:
Jan 20, 2009
Reviews for Max Payne
Max Payne is content to be an efficient vehicle for the delivery of a familiar range of sensations, some of which almost rise to the level of feelings.
Moore artfully blends vidgame and film-noir aesthetics while editor Dan Zimmerman’s measured rhythms yield a more coherent, less frenzied work than one might expect from the source material.
The emotional underpinnings and psychological depths of great detective fiction get tossed aside for a wallow in stylistic excess.
A critic can stay alert through movies that would put elephants into comas, but I doubt most people will stay awake for Max Payne.
It is stylish, slick, loud and empty as the producers wanted it to be.
Did Wahlberg read the script, or was it hidden under the pile of money that the producers dropped at his door step?"
It's a one-dimensional detective noir rather than an exciting shoot-em-up.
The film's best line sums up my feelings on it perfectly "Stay away from Max Payne." But they probably don't mean it the same way I do, huh?
The movie's excellent design and mood almost -- almost -- outweigh the stupid story.
Max Payne joins Fox's steadily increasing roster of entirely ineffective action pictures, alongside such underwhelming disappointments as Hitman and Live Free or Die Hard...
... the resonance of the mythic imagery and potential of the premise creates a fascinating film in the margins of the pulp story in the foreground.
A big nothing, not even hokey enough to watch for the sake of laughing at it.
85 minutes long, rated PG-13, released by Fox, directed by John Moore, and a screenplay based on a video game. That's a recipe for disaster.
This action saga is driven into unintentionally self-parodic territory only a seven-year-old boy could reasonably stomach.
As good as a couple of its action beats are, Max still suffers from the heartlessness that makes games emotionally inferior to movies. Nobody ever shed a tear over a video-game character's death.
The story, involving conspiracies, doesn't always make sense. And the surprises are easy to predict; director John Moore doesn't try to hide them.
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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