The Plot:
Max Payne is a detective working the closed case files of a major metropolis. Three years ago, his wife and newborn child were killed by a trio of junkies. Now he spends his days trying to track down the last surviving member of the murderous gang. One night, he picks up a party girl named Natasha. The next day, she winds up dead - with Max's wallet in her hand. Payne's ex-partner tries to cover for him, and ends up paying the ultimate price when Natasha's Russian mob hit-woman sister Mona finds out. As is typical in these types of situations, Max can't trust anyone - not BB, the family friend who currently heads security for the pharmaceutical company where his late wife worked, not a wormy weasel named Jason Colvin who knows everything, not Det. Jim Bravura of Internal Affairs. Instead, Max decides to go after a rogue soldier named Lupino who may hold the key to a rash of recent killings, his wife's demise, and the rising influx of the drug Valkyr onto the streets.

The DVD:
Max Payne is one confused movie. For almost an hour and twenty minutes, it plays by the same slo-mo action rules that directors like John Woo (and descendents like Zach Synder) have managed to master. Of course, it only accomplishes half of its ass-pirations. During the drudgery that is waiting for the one single significant shootout against the world's most massive private corporate security team (run by Beau Bridges, no less), we are stuck in the same old cop with a vendetta movie mode, a plot that makes no bones about replaying our hero's hurting whenever the narrative requires - or runs out of ideas. It's as if journeyman director John Moore (the Flight of the Phoenix update, the horrific Omen remake) thought that everyone in the audience had ADD, and realized that motivation and intent have to be repeated, ad nauseum, in order to satisfy the scattershot storyline. Nothing about this material is bold, inventive, or fresh. Instead, it plays like every other wannabe urban western where good guys and bad guys are blurred into archetypical ambiguities, and ammunition (and physical resistance to same) is unlimited.

But then something quite unexpected happens - Max Payne the movie goes batshit! Thanks to the introduction of a hallucinogenic drug, a swath of Norse idolatry, and literal visions of Hell/Valhalla on Earth, the artist formerly known as Marky Mark becomes a pyrotechnical pawn in one heck of a cosmic freakout. While it's way too much too late in the cinematic game to save the film, it does help make the last act elements far more palatable. Indeed, your reaction to this movie will be based solely on a few important aspects - (a) how much you love the source video game, (b) how willing you are to accept the big screen adaptation changes, (c) how disappointed you will be when you discover that Family Guy's Mila Kunis gets very few opportunities to explore the gratuitous 'hot girl with gun' promise the trailer inferred, and (d) your tolerances for wacky, winged demon red herrings. If you can come up with viable defenses to all those potential pitfalls, you might actually like this film. But don't be surprised if one or more of these misgivings end up undermining your enjoyment.

Meg Griffin is not the only waste of talent time here. Walhberg, wearing that typical Funky Bunch scowl on his aging marquee mug, is not a bad lead. But we expect Max to be something more than a mere catalyst for the discharge of weaponry. Similarly, Bridges makes an odd antagonist. He's so inherently bumbling that, when the tide turns, it still seems like he's putting us on. Everyone's favorite Bond Girl as human Viagra, Olga Kurylenko, gets a blink and you'll miss it turn as a trumped up tramp, and Donal Logue and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges are lost in part-time cameo turns. While Max Payne isn't the first film to place its concept above its cast, Moore really needed some stronger thespians here. Without a personal core to root for or care about, we are left looking at the landscapes - and then, things only get interesting at the end. If you don't mind waiting for some marginal payoff, Max Payne will be your ticket to ride. If you need a little more than a flash in the pan finale, you'll just be bored.

The Video:
Presented by Fox in every critic's favorite "Screening Only" review copy format (complete with random logo placement), it's hard to comment on the image here. The transfer offered is impressive, but then again, it's not final product. One hopes the actual 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic image surpasses the slightly compressed version experienced for this review. Theatrically, the film had a muted pallet, some minor scope, and an interest F/X moment or two especially toward the end where things are meant to be thrilling and epic. Here, everything has that mass produced sheen of a press preview disc.

On the other hand, the Screener disc did have the "Unrated" revamp of the film available for review (the theatrical version is also available on the disc), but aside from some red/pink clouds meant to suggest bullet wound spray, there is nothing noticeable in the non-theatrical cut. As far as this critic can tell, the minimal blood is the only added element.

The Audio:
Though information indicates that this screener provides all the necessary sonic situations of the final Fox packaging, this critic will again reserve judgment. The Dolby Digital 5.1 offered was quite good. The back channels come alive often, especially whenever the action starts up, and there are some nicely ambient moments of imaginary demon suspense. The musical score is fine, however, and the dialogue is easily discernible.

The Extras:
Offering up two featurettes and an audio commentary, the Screener disc of Max Payne may or may not contain the final DVD packaging product. This is especially true of the pair of individual puff pieces. One offers the backstory on Max's wife in animated graphic novel form. The other is a 30 minute behind the scenes overview which occasionally feels sloppy and off the cuff. The discussion between director Moore, head of F/X Everett Burrell, and Production Designer Daniel Dorrance is witty, insightful, and loaded with information on the approach taken with the title. The filmmaker makes it very clear that he wasn't about to adopt a "first person shooter" model for his film, and was drawn to past Hollywood classics like film noir to provide some perspective. He even champions clichés. Along with the divergent design concepts, and the praise heaped on the actors, this is a technically telling narrative.

Final Thoughts:
Max Payne is unquestionably not the redefinition of the action film. It's an above-below-average videogame adaptation that gets bogged down in plotpoint before finally unleashing the visual hounds. On the grounds that many may enjoy its nominal amusements, a rating of Rent It will be awarded. There are times when James Moore manages to make Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis into viable cinematic fixtures. At other instances, the movie is all blather and little bombast. Certainly some fans will get anxious waiting nearly an hour for bullets to start flying. But once the Valkyrs turns up to give our hero a headache, it all becomes a nice bit of eye candy. Sure, turning off your own brain is definitely required, but at least Max Payne rewards you with something for your efforts. A lot of console to Cineplex title attempts barely even do that.

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