WITH: Mark Wahlberg (Max Payne), Mila Kunis (Mona Sax), Beau Bridges (B. B. Hensley), Ludacris (Jim Bravura), Olga Kurylenko (Natasha), Amaury Nolasco (Jack Lupino) and Chris O’Donnell (Jason Colvin).
“Max Payne,” directed by John Moore from a script by Beau Thorne, a measure of integrity. It’s not an especially good movie, but such a judgment is not really relevant to its ambitions. It is content to be an efficient vehicle for the delivery of a familiar range of sensations, some of which almost rise to the level of feelings. Though a sexy woman in a skimpy dress (next-wave Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko) shows up to tempt Max, lust is not really on the menu. Instead, the film’s momentum is derived from the grim, ruthless self-pity of the lone avenger.
Max Payne, a solo shooter moving through hallways, alleys and empty rooms, is a figure handed down from movies to video games and nowadays, increasingly, handed back. Mr. Moore does a fairly good job of adapting the cinematic aspects of first-person shooter games back into cinema, and in devising a coherent color scheme and sound design for Max’s escapades.
A coherent story would be a lot to ask, and would in any case slow down the movie’s rhythm. Max’s righteous anger finds various allies and targets, though it is not always clear who is which. They are played by Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges and Ludacris with just enough panache and expressiveness to uphold the (increasingly irrelevant) distinction between a movie and a video game.
