I had wanted to see this movie since I first saw the trailer a few months back but frankly it was never a 'must see' flick but more of a 'will try and get to it before it leaves theaters'. I did ... just.It's a cold night here in Toronto but i wrapped up as best an Arizonan can and headed to the local AMC to catch the movie. I seem to be having something of a movie love affair with Wahlberg at the moment, having watched his last 5 films and enjoyed every one of them (The Happening, We Own the Night, Shooter, The Departed & Invincible) and now Max Payne makes number six.To be honest even though the trailer was excellent I really hadn't expected a great deal from this film which is based on a video game of the same name released in 2001. Fairly early on you know you have entered a very dark reality/fantasy world with New York looking as morose and depressing as can be under seemingly perpetual snow. We meet Max Payne a former homicide Detective battling his demons having never found the killer of his wife and child 3 years before. The movie moves along at a good pace as Payne slowly unravels the secret behind his family tragedy and director John Moore manages to turn what could have been a real B movie into a film that lingers long after you leave the theater. John Woo would have been proud of some of the detailed slo-mo shooting sequences and Moore really had an eye on the artistic in the execution of many scenes and sets. This was originally slated to be an R rated movie but Moore trimmed some scenes and it ended up a much more commercially viable PG-13 (a shame if you ask me but I am not a studio trying to make money!).
Walhberg is as watchable as ever and when you think of how this guy started his career with New Kids, Marky Mark etc it's all the more astonishing that he has been able to become this genuinely credible and talented actor. Other notable appearances come in the form of new Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko, Ludacris, Chris O'Donnell (where has he been?) and Beau Bridges.
The movie comes in at 100 minutes and feels just about right. This is the first John Moore film I have seen and his excellent direction leaves me cranked to see the 2009 comic adaptation of Virulents.
Rating: ****
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