So you'd think a movie based on an M-rated game would be rated R. After all, you have to be 17 to play the game, shouldn't you be 17 to see the movie? At least that was my assumption. But I was wrong. Max Payne is PG-13 for some reason. This became immediately clear within the first 20 minutes or so. The first clue was the complete lack of f-bombs. Noticeable, particularly given the cop-on-the-edge/revenge genre, but something I can live without. Another clue was the tame action sequences. Now the game is brutal, with blood splattering everywhere as Max blasts his way through level after level utilizing a bullet time-like feature that slows down the action, giving the player time to score devastating (and messy) headshots while diving laterally...very John Woo. Some of the bullet time stuff made it into the movie, but there was virtually no gore, even when Max takes out some bad guys at close range with a shotgun. Still, even a hard R rating couldn't have saved this movie. For an action flick, there's hardly any. Most of the movie consists of Mark Wahlberg sulking from one scene to the next attempting to solve a puzzle that an infant could piece together in a few seconds. Who killed Max's family? You'll know the killer's identity as soon as he appears on screen. So aside from some interesting visuals, including lots of shots of snow falling in slow motion, this one's a complete turd.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Max Payne
So you'd think a movie based on an M-rated game would be rated R. After all, you have to be 17 to play the game, shouldn't you be 17 to see the movie? At least that was my assumption. But I was wrong. Max Payne is PG-13 for some reason. This became immediately clear within the first 20 minutes or so. The first clue was the complete lack of f-bombs. Noticeable, particularly given the cop-on-the-edge/revenge genre, but something I can live without. Another clue was the tame action sequences. Now the game is brutal, with blood splattering everywhere as Max blasts his way through level after level utilizing a bullet time-like feature that slows down the action, giving the player time to score devastating (and messy) headshots while diving laterally...very John Woo. Some of the bullet time stuff made it into the movie, but there was virtually no gore, even when Max takes out some bad guys at close range with a shotgun. Still, even a hard R rating couldn't have saved this movie. For an action flick, there's hardly any. Most of the movie consists of Mark Wahlberg sulking from one scene to the next attempting to solve a puzzle that an infant could piece together in a few seconds. Who killed Max's family? You'll know the killer's identity as soon as he appears on screen. So aside from some interesting visuals, including lots of shots of snow falling in slow motion, this one's a complete turd.
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