With Uncharted out in cinemas, I thought I would give a look at a previous video game adaptation that also stars Mark Whalberg, John Moore’s dark, fantasy driven and now infamous Max Payne, released in the mighty year of 2008 to which The Dark Knight had dominated.
The film had a great story and fanbase but couldn’t quite deliver, what went wrong?
Just because the film didn’t do well financially and critically doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give a film like this a chance. I went in with an open mind having not played the game but have acquired knowledge of how loyal the fanbase are.
Thematically, It’s a dark film, but its darkness is mellowed by a sense of goodwill, Max Payne is driven to end the lives of people who are worse than him, a similar theme shared in Mel Gibson’s silent killer Payback in 99. It’s not a hollow dark film like a typical slasher horror flick, but what you have at its core is a great story with enough depth and simplicity for a solid action film, not just for fans of the game.
It has a moody visual board, but as I said, the moodiness is justified considering the plot of the film, which although generic, works in every scenario in film language because there is a sense of relatable humanity, a man who looses his wife and hunts for the killers. The term film language is used to equate to film reality, where the story is stretched to make it entertaining for audiences.
For a film and story like this, you need an experienced leading action star, one who can excel in the action scenes but can also sell the more dramatic moments in the picture. You cant have an action star who can only do the action and nothing else.
With all this in the picture, how is the film?
The film is a slow paced slog of a picture, with some impressive technical qualities including some well-timed action scenes and glimpses of an interesting and compelling idea. The better parts of the film include scenes with Mark Whalberg and his wife, its the only real meat of the film, the rest of the film seems to comprise of action scenes and classic FBI dialogue, where people are walking around and shouting at each other. But, I admired the slow pacing of the film, it at least allows us to take in how the plot was progressing. The film had some great posters, the one below is exciting.
The best parts of the film are Ludacris and Mila Kunis, who I both thought for the material they had were fairly solid. Ludacris looks very convincing in his role and this shows that you can take him seriously. The rest of the cast are very forgettable.
Marky mark’s best work would come 2 years later in The Fighter, showcasing a much more dramatic range in his performance. However, to give credit, Mila and Mark worked well together for the scenes they had towards the middle to end of the film, both are very capable action stars.
Mark’s overall performance has little depth here, it’s very much an on the surface type performance, which does work in some scenes, similar to the acting style of the Rock from films such as Faster and Walking Tall, that straight forward take no prisoners attitude.
Although, for a story with this much emotion, I was hoping he would make his performance have more weight, it didn’t have to be so straight- forward. Any relationship between a man loosing his wife can be so compelling, even shown very well in The Walking Dead, which takes place in a genre full of disbelief but yet there is real emotion there.
In terms of John Moore’s direction, its not his best work but the film keeps a consistent visual look and frame throughout, which was pleasing to see. To this day, Max Payne ranks near the bottom of video game to film adaptations, perhaps directors should give up on the idea as it’s just too hard to execute. Making a film like this for fans of the video game and non fans is a tough balance to get right, but John Moore was very right to extract a great story from this video game because there is a great concept in this game.
Maybe the best part to the film is that John Moore could get the film financed, cast and produced, he got a cast of high wealth and status and his film was greenlit, that’s a positive in itself but the overall film lacks all real emotion of any kind, as the audience passes through dark streets full of witchcraft and mayhem whilst Mark looks stern, gunning down anyone in his path, there just wasn’t enough and the director in his own right seemed to rely on nods to the game to keep the interest of the audience going throughout its very short runtime.
The actual execution of the film is painfully straight forward, never really delving snd exploring the areas of his life. The film could have spent more screen time in really developing Mark’s relationship with his wife, but there wasn’t enough of it. There was less of that and more shooting.
I just cant see anyone who has’nt played the game enjoying this film and that’s a shame. I haven’t played the game but I like the story, cast and I am open to elements of fantasy, but this film didn’t do it for me. It’s a film that works best having it on in the background whilst doing a bit of laundry or a film that just passes the time of a Friday night.
Perhaps one day, they could re-make this film with a different director and cast. If Uncharted does well at the box office, video game to film adaptations may gather a more prominent market and establish Ruben Fleischer as one of the industry’s leading directors of mainstream cinema, but we will see how well the film does at the cinema and at home.
For those who are curious, the film is available on Disney Plus and Amazon Prime UK.
What do you think of Max Payne?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
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