Max Payne

Genre - Action/Thriller [Video Game Adaptation]
Year Released - 2008
Running Time - 99 minutes
Rated PG-13 (for violence, drug content, and language)
Directed by John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines and the Awful 2006 Re-Make of The Omen)
Written by Sam Lake (creator of the video game that the movie is based upon) and Beau Thorne
Cast Includes:
Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Rock Star, The Italian Job, and next year's sequel The Brazilian Job, as well as this year's horrible The Happening)
Mila Kunis (Jackie - That 70's Show, Piranha, American Psycho 2, Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
Beau Bridges (older brother of Jeff Bridges)

Rating: 3 Skulls

Plot Summary:

Mark Wahlberg stars as the title character of this gritty crime thriller, centered on an undercover New York City DEA agent who teams up with a female assassin to avenge the murder of his family.

Review:

I do not mind movies that are based on video games, as long as they are well made.
[Good Example: Resident Evil - Bad Example: House of the Dead]
However, I do not understand the point of taking a video game that is rated M (for Mature) and making a PG-13 movie out of it. . . With that said, this movie still maintains the "grittiness" of the Max Payne games, which is a good thing.

I remember when the video game first came out, in 2001. I had a friend that owned the game, and watching the action in the game was like watching a John Woo flick! So when I heard that they were making a movie, based on the game, I thought Cool!
The movie was good - just not as good as I was hoping for. (perhaps my expectations were too high)

My thoughts:

Mark Wahlberg was Great ( as always) portraying Max Payne
Donald Logue (Grounded for Life) was a good choice for Max's ex-partner
Mila Kunis (whom I like) I felt, was not a good choice as Mona Sax, the female assassin - she did not pull off playing an assassin well, at all [had Angelina Jolie not been pregnant with twins - that would have been a better choice!] ;-)
Nelly Furtado (the singer) was in the movie, all of two-minutes, yet they were superbly acted
Olga Kurylenko (the new Bond Girl) is Smokin' Hot! (you'll recognize her from last year's video game adaptation of Hitman)
Beau Bridges did an excellent job as well

If you are a fan of the game, then you will probably enjoy this movie - though once again we have a case of the game being better than the movie.
If you do decide to watch this movie, in the theatre, and enjoy it - be sure to stay through the credits, for an additional scene afterwards. . .

Jason