Max Payne (Cert. 15, 99 mins)
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Amaury Nolasco, Olga Kurylenko, Donal Logue, Marianthi Evans
Directed by John Moore
"I DON’T believe in heaven. I believe in pain, I believe in fear, I believe in death," growls the titular, gun-toting hero in voiceover at the beginning of John Moore’s tiresome video game-to-movie adaptation.
Audiences will certainly believe in pain – and boredom and frustration – as the vengeance-seeking cop plods wearily through a plot that straddles reality and drug-induced fantasy on the crime-riddled streets of New York City.
First-time screenwriter Beau Thorne sketches a familiar tale of murder and redemption without any of the excitement or relentless, adrenaline- pumping action of the small screen source material.
We open with a bang - or should that be a splash? - as we see the main protagonist heading towards a watery grave. The action then flashes back one week to chart events leading up to Max’s tumble into the icy abyss.
The twists, if they can be called that, are signposted so far in advance, it becomes laughable that characters can’t see what is staring them in their blank faces.
Mark Wahlberg is inexpressive as the eponymous good cop on a mission, shooting first and thinking later.
Police officer Max Payne (Wahlberg) returns home to find his wife Michelle (Marianthi Evans) and baby daughter, slain by an intruder.
Unable to rest until he unmasks the killer, Max scours every open case file and draws comfort and inspiration from his mentor BB (Beau Bridges), who urges patience.
A tip-off leads to a nightclub where Max meets Natasha (Kurylenko) and her sister Mona (Kunis).
A gruesome crime in an alleyway leads police units to discover Max’s wallet at the scene, fingerprinting him for the misdeed.
While Max tries to clear his name and outrun Internal Affairs, the real culprit seeks out the people closest to the renegade cop...
Fans of the Max Payne games will recognise characters and certain plot elements including a designer drug which causes insanity in it’s users. The film also employs the slow motion bullet time effect, which was a key factor of the video game’s appeal, bending time and the laws of physics to achieve the most visually arresting results.
However, Moore’s film is a poor substitute for the visceral slam-bang that comes from grabbing a controller and taking charge of the hero yourself. We don’t feel engaged with any of the characters, nor do we sense Max’s simmering rage over the slaughter of his family.
Supernatural elements drawn from Norse mythology necessitate a blitzkrieg of computer generated special effects which provide a welcome respite from the eternal gloom of Jonathan Sela’s colour- starved cinematography.
The lack of dramatic momentum makes the 99-minute running time feel considerably longer.
Game over.
