Quickcard Review Max Payne Directed by: John Moore Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris O'Donnell, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges Time: 1 hr 50 mins Rating: PG-13
Plot: Based on the popular, violent video game comes the story of DEA agent Max Payne (Wahlberg). He now works the cold cases trying to avenge his wife and daughter's murder. Max begins to piece together a conspiracy with the help of an assassin (Kunis) that involves devils and drugs.
Who’s It For? I hope gamers like it. But I heard it was originally an R-rated film, then changed to a PG-13, less violent version. That's not going to make die-hards happy. And if you aren't familiar with this world, I wouldn't bother checking it out. Check out McLaughlin's full Scorecard Review -- for the gamer's take on the film.
CLICK HERE to read McLaughlin's Top 7 Video Games into Big Screen Movies
OVERALL Wahlberg is not bad as a tough, troubled agent. You can tell he's troubled because he doesn't have sex with the smoking hot Natasha (Olga Kurylenko). The look of the film--with tons of snow, rain and flashes of red isn't bad either. That's it. That's all the compliments I can muster up for this film ... not bad. But this is some of the worst story telling. It looks as if any coherence to the plot was just destroyed in the editing room. There are devils, sparks, drugs, and bad guys that are so poorly explained. And what's amazing is there is a TON of flashbacks and voiceover recaps but that can't even help. To top if off, there really isn't much action to this action film. Just a couple moments, that's all we get. I even had time to wonder which bad guy would have been in charge of lighting all the candles in the evil hideout. As for Kunis, who did a fantastic job in Forgetting Sarah Marshall... there was no explanation on what she did for a living or who her friends were, so she, just like Wahlberg, isn't getting the blame. The film should have been about Payne getting addicted to drugs, having a good heart, but doing really bad things to search for the man who murdered his family.
Final Score: 4/10