Max Payne was probably one of the coolest video games available for the PC in 2001 (it was eventually ported over to the PS2, Xbox, and even the GBA with varying degrees of success) by not only managing to transform the Matrix’s “bullet-time” effect into a genuinely creative game play mechanic (which has since been abused and raped to death by a plethora of copycats) but also for its incredibly dark storyline that pushed the boundaries of acceptability by featuring infanticide, prostitution, the occult, foul language, drugs, and lots and lots of violence. With Hollywood turning pretty much any semi-promising franchise into a full length film these days (and without any real discretion either -Dragon Ball? Alvin and the Chipmunks?) it only made sense that Max Payne would be picked up. After all, the game’s story obviously took notes from a plethora of cop films like John Woo’s Hard Boiled or Mel Gibson’s.However, while a Max Payne movie might normally sound a great idea, the sad fact is that movie’s based on video games usually end up sucking. Badly. Some have been decent or even good (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children), others downright awful (Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark) while others have been guilty pleasures (Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat), but getting a film that simultaneously does the video game justice as well as genuinely being a good movie is really without precedence. After seeing the debut of the Max Payne trailer earlier today, however, I must admit -I’m impressed.
The Look
Max Payne has always had a very distinct, dark, gritty look that was beautifully illustrated through the graphic novel used ingame to tell the story. The movie trailer does a terrific job of emulating the look. Not only does it bathe the film in a world of perpetual darkness (just like the game) but the grain effect also closely mirrors the drawing technique used in the video game.
The Story
Thus far the plot seems to slightly deviate from the game. There’s a few characters here and there that were not in the game, but it looks like most of the major plot points are being more or less followed. Not as closely as fans of the game might have liked, but at the very least, hopefully it won’t completely tangent from the source material like in Hitman. Max Payne’s family is still dead, but while there is no allusion to his partner, Alex, being murdered, at a few different points in the trailer it looks like Max is being chased (as in being shot at with machine guns) by the police. Additionally, it also looks like the director has taken into consideration Max Payne’s frequent drug induced night mares. In the trailer, we see angels or birds swooping down periodically. Either it’s an appreciated artistic touch or God is sending down his legions to kill people. Hopefully the writers won’t do the story a disservice with any embellishments or creative licenses they may take. But hey, it’s Hollywood. We can only assume the worst.
The Actors
Mark Wahlberg was an interesting choice to cast as Max Payne, and Mila Kunis as Mona Sax was another strange selection. However, after seeing the trailer, I’m more or less convinced that they’ll both do an awesome job bringing their characters to life. Mark Wahlberg has already proven himself a very capable actor (as a detective no less as the foul mouthed police sargeant in The Departed), but it’ll be interesting to see if he’s up to the task of bringing Max Payne’s persistantly gloomy monotone and lengthy, poetic monlogues to the big screen.
The Rating
Perhaps the most defining aspect of Max Payne is just how mature it is. Bloody gun play, foul language, drugs, prostitution, satan worship, etc. etc is a prevalent aspect of the game. However, Max Payne is being rated PG-13. That means no blood, no swearing, etc. This may seem like a pretty crippling blow to the effort to remain faithful to the game’s content, but just judging from the trailer, the movie already looks plenty violent. Also, the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight is also based on a dark, violent story and it looks amazing even with a PG-13 rating. It’d be nice to a see a R-rated release, but I’m not too worried about the rating restrictions neutering the film of all its violence and darker themes.
Despite the subconscious fears that tell me this may end up being an average ho-hum action flick or a mediocre video game adaptation, I love the trailer. Unlike so many other video game movies before it, Max Payne actually looks, feels, and sounds like the video game. It’s no small feat considering just how grounded the video game was in all three aspects, and it is commendable that the director has obviously been paying close attention to this fact. I love Max Payne, and while I’d end up seeing the movie on opening day regardless, the trailer has me all the more excited about its release come this October.
Click HERE for the trailer.
Mark Fujii: I'm your typical college student who plays too much video games. I also work as an electronic sales associate, meaning I sell Ipods and violent video games to your children when not trying to sneak off and play Super Smash Bros while the boss isn't looking. Oh, and I'm totally awesome. True fact.
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Mark Fujii
I'm your typical college student who plays too much video games. I also work as an electronic sales associate, meaning I sell Ipods and violent video games to your children when not trying to sneak off and play Super Smash Bros while the boss isn't looking. Oh, and I'm totally awesome. True fact.
halo694 (halo694) says:
(Posted September 25th, 2008 at 9:00 pm)
ok look Max Payne being PG-13 sounds fine i mean have you seen live free or die hard that movie was awesome and had alot of violence,blood,and language and it was PG-13 so think about it Pg-13 is ok for Max Payne and yes i’ve played the games but PG-13 rating for max payne is official i saw a trailer last night and it said PG-13 so suck it up.