Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Max Payne

This is topic Max Payne in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Tyler Potts (Member # 4952) on 10-17-2008, 02:18 AM:

So they shot in 6 weeks. So they filmed in Toronto trying to make it NYC. So its John Moore directing. I should've listened to reason before sitting down to watch this.

Imagine all the boring parts of Payback that hit the cutting room floor. Shots of someone walking through an alley, sitting at a desk, or driving around. This is the bulk of Max Payne. At 100 minutes, pretty much all the shooting sequences in the trailer are what you see in the movie, and in real time.

LOOSELY based on the videogame, it muddles through a standard revenge man on a mission plot and leaves you wondering, "why do I care?" as you get no real attachment to any character.

In 2001, the videogame was a great example of a film noir story, blazing gun play, and slow motion bullet time. This film's only 'noir' is it appears they fired the entire lighting department as many scenes are shown only with ambient light. Gunshots and slow motion are used briefly.

I was expecting this to be this year's Hitman. While Hitman was a guilty pleasure, this is just an awful movie. Trying to keep the mindset of not playing the game beforehand this is a pretty bad movie. If you're a fan of the Max Payne games this will make you want to find a way to give John Moore a caning.

Max Payne: 1/5.

Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 10-19-2008, 09:59 PM:

I thought this was very good and I went in with no expectations. Had no idea what it was about about either.
Story gets a little weak towards the end but it holds.
Great cinematography and the style of the film had a killing atmosphere to it. Way better than The Dark Knight. Awesome slowmo shots too. 4/5.

Posted by Mike Carro (Member # 232) on 10-20-2008, 08:25 AM:

I saw this at the new Tucson Harkins in DLP (which looked great!) and I too thought it was really good. I know nothing about the video game and went with no expectations as well. In fact I would say based on the trailer which had a fantasy/super hero feel, it exceeded my expectations. Cinematography was great. Great action. 4/5 as well.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 10-23-2008, 09:43 AM:

Oh yeah - I forgot that I watched this movie last Thursday night.

Yeah - that pretty much sums it up.

That's my review. One week later - I barely remembered seeing it.

Other than the rock solid awesome presentation that my theatre has in auditorium 14 - the movie itself is forgettable.

A guy's family gets killed under mysterious circumstances, wackiness ensues... [Wink]

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 10-23-2008, 02:31 PM:

Some of the visuals were nice but the acting was just bad. I didn't care about any of the characters. [puke]

out of 5