Max Payne, Min Satysfaction

19 October 2008

Gerard Wood

After panning Mark Wahlberg’s performance in M. Night Shyamalan’s abysmal The Happening, it’s only fair that we state up front that in Max Payne Wahlberg travels some way along the path of redemption as an actor. Not too far, to be sure, and while it’s possible to applaud the optimism he demonstrates in his choice of movies, his judgement certainly comes into question.

Wahlberg is the dour Max Payne, a New York City cop who works the Cold Case files during the day and by night obsessively prowls the city seeking clues to the brutal murder of his wife and child three years earlier. Everywhere we see intriguing black wing tattoos sported by druggies, crims and party girls, and in the shadows dark angels prowl, leaving mutilated bodies and scattered body parts in their wake. Director John Moore’s Max Payne has all the look of a dark fantasy with a graphic novel pedigree, but looks are deceiving on two counts. Despite the supernatural overtones, Moore’s movie is grounded in a gritty and very human reality: it’s an action film noir about drugs and crime and the corporate culture of greed that lurks behind it. That’s the good news.

On the flip side, Max Payne ’s pedigree is not that of a graphic novel, but a video game, and when we look beyond the appealing surface what we find is fairly ugly.

So, you might say, don’t look beyond the surface. And fair enough too. Some movies simply don’t warrant deep thought.

Unfortunately, Beau Thorn’s derivative and simplistic script somehow also manages to confuse, and in confusing us it forces us to ask questions that can only reveal the movie’s serious limitations. The plot moves like a video game: information is forthcoming because Max needs to get to the next stage and all the inconsequential pieces (which are so obviously not inconsequential) fall neatly into place because the plot demands it. The villain of the piece (signalled so far in advance that he might as well wear a placard stating “I’m the villain!”) was cut from the “let me explain everything in great detail before I kill you” mould of villainy. But even after he’s explained it all in graphic detail, I was frankly still confused by his position in the criminal organisation and his responsibility for the drug, Valkyr, around which the plot revolves.

The look and action of Max Payne recall too many movies and action sequences to name. Moore, who comes from the pointless remake school of directing (Flight of the Phoenix , The Omen ), skilfully cherry picks bits and pieces from everywhere, drawing them all together in a workman like way and producing a great looking movie that lacks any originality or creativity. Max Payne views like an advert, all surface without substance.

An unrelentingly grim movie, devoid of any humour whatsoever, what Max Payne does on the surface, it does well. Moore sets about creating an atmosphere, a visual and sensual experience, and he does just that: but in the end it's all dark/noir surface without depth. To be fair, the movie doesn’t try and punch above its weight (which would be flyweight by any measure), but the experience is ultimately disappointing. So much more could have been achieved with this material. Conversely, if the script had been less muddled, this could have been a more satisfying brain-dead movie experience.