Early Reviews Pan Max Payne Movie

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Reviews for the Mark Wahlberg-starring Max Payne feature film adaptation have started coming in prior to the movie's October 17 debut, and despite some earlier praise, the results aren't pretty.

"I suffered through it, and you shouldn't have to...Nobody comes out of this thing looking good," reads Latauro's Aint It Cool News review, which later labels the film as "the year's most socially reckless movie" due to a plot twist near its end.

"It's so unbelievably dull, I'm struggling to find the energy to even write about it," the reviewer said of the flick's revenge-driven story. "The slow-mo option from the game may be great in that context, but looks fucking retarded in the film."

Another review, this one from Finnish outlet Suomen Kuvalehti, compares the John Moore-directed Max Payne to a movie from reviled director Uwe Boll, noting that "the choice between [Max Payne and a Boll film] is like deciding whether you want plague or tuberculosis, but if forced, I would say yes to Boll."

Furthermore, word from FilmThreat suggests that distributor Fox is timing the press screenings so late that most reviews won't come in until after opening weekend--a common way to avoid negative press.

Still, not everyone is down on the Max Payne movie. While TVNZ's Darren Bevan states that "Max Payne just misses the mark," he adds that certain scenes are "simply there to showcase the amount of pyrotechnics. And considering the action-heavy Remedy-developed games that inspired the movie, that may not be so bad.

It should also be noted that director Moore is planning a "gamer dedicated cut" of the film for its DVD release, which should be "a little slower and a little more atmospheric."

In related news, Shacknews can reveal that the film sports a "cold opening," meaning that there are no opening credits a la Star Wars, as the editors wished to emphasize the impact of what they view as a "powerful" opening sequence.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 15, 2008 8:42 AM

    Serves Moore right for putting retarded shit like demons into the plot.

    I had no faith in this movie as soon as I saw 2 things:

    1. Mark Walhberg explicitly refused to even try the videogame and get a feel for who Max Payne is.
    2. Moore decided to add his [shitty] "vision" of Max Payne and throw demons in.

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      October 15, 2008 8:57 AM

      [deleted]

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        October 15, 2008 9:00 AM

        I don't think it was a shack article. It was an article where he said some bs about focusing on his kid or something rather than playing the game.

        I only say "bs" because there are plenty of good fathers out there who are gamers as well. And they pull longer hours than markymark over here who pretends for a multi-million dollar living.

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        October 15, 2008 1:09 PM

        Maxim

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        October 15, 2008 5:36 PM

        He said it in an interview on GameTrailers where he said he just watched one of his assistants play it, but didn't want to play it himself.

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      October 15, 2008 8:58 AM

      I am with you. I called this movie shit right from that first trailer, but how the fuck would Mark Wahlberg WASD'ing and clicking through baddies in bullet time give him a deep look at the character? All he'd need is a good solid rundown of the plot of watch the graphic novel roll by. Max is an interesting character, yes, but you don't need to play the game to write him well. The game isn't exactly a novel.

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        October 15, 2008 9:01 AM

        The graphic novel is a good point, I had never heard of it. I just mention the game since that's how most people know of Max Payne.

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        October 15, 2008 9:02 AM

        It is in part a graphic novel.

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      October 15, 2008 9:16 AM

      Retarded shit like demons? Did you not pay attention to the plot of the games at all?

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        October 15, 2008 9:26 AM

        I don't remember ANYTHING in the games about demons and satan recruiting people for Hells army, and Max Paine stopping them.

        ...what game were you playing?

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          October 15, 2008 9:34 AM

          The whole premise including secondary character names, the Valkyr, and even club Ragnarock is basically a one big analogy to Norse mythology. I vaguely remeber Max Payne voiceover which explains who Valkyries were and how it relates to the drug.

          No demons even in drug visions though...

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      October 15, 2008 1:30 PM

      The doom movie was bashed because it didn't have demons, so naturally they had to put demons in the max payne movie.

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