Max Payne (film)
Encyclopedia
Max Payne is a 2008 noir
action film
based on the 2001 video game of the same name
by Remedy Entertainment
. It was written by Beau Thorne and was directed by John Moore. The film stars Mark Wahlberg
in the title role
as Max Payne
, Mila Kunis
as Mona Sax
, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
as Jim Bravura and Beau Bridges
as BB Hensley. The film revolves around revenge
, centering on a policeman's journey through New York City's criminal underworld, as he investigates the deaths of his wife and child.
Filming took place between March and May 2008. Extensive visual effects
were used in many scenes throughout the film. Max Payne was released on October 16, 2008 in Australia
, one day prior to the United States
release date. Reviews were mostly negative, and some critics cited the film's numerous differences from the video game on which it is based. Despite the negative reviews, the film was able to take the top spot in the box office in its opening weekend and gross more than $110 million worldwide (including DVD sales). Max Payne was released for home video on January 20, 2009.
. When Natasha storms off, Max searches for her in the back where partiers are using the drug "Valkyr". Max is silently confronted by Jack Lupino, but Natasha takes Max back to the party. Max notices Natasha’s tattoos and wants information about them, so he invites her back to his apartment. However, when Natasha tries to seduce
Max, she makes insensitive comments about his wife and Max kicks her out.
The next morning, Natasha is found dead, and Max's wallet is discovered at the crime scene. Max becomes the prime suspect in the case, with his old partner, Alex Balder, taking part in the investigation. Alex notices the tattoo on Natasha's arm is similar to one found in the case file of Max's wife. Alex tries to contact Max, but with no response, he quickly leaves for Max's apartment. When Max arrives home, he finds the door ajar and his place a mess. Alex lies dead inside and as Max investigates he is knocked unconscious from behind.
Max wakes up in a hospital with his trusted friend BB Hensley, his father's former partner in the NYPD, at his bedside. Hensley is now head of security of the pharmaceutical company Aesir Corporation. Max leaves the hospital early to pay his respects to Alex, but is kicked out by Alex's upset wife Christa. While being questioned by Lieutenant Jim Bravura of Internal Affairs, Max storms out and searches Alex's desk, finding Owen Green's name in Natasha's case file. Later, Max is confronted by Mona, who assumes Max killed her sister, but Max persuades her to help him find the actual killer. Max and Mona find Green, but cannot save him as Owen was hallucinating and as a result falls out of a building to his death.
Max and Mona visit Natasha's tattoo parlor. The tattoo artist
tells them Natasha's tattoo represents the wings of a Valkyrie
, which, in Norse mythology
, are creatures that decide the fate of warriors in battle. Max then goes to take some of Michelle's belongings out of storage and ends up discovering documents from when she worked at the Aesir Corporation. After taking some of the documents, Max meets BB at a diner and demands the name of Michelle's old supervisor.
Max interrogates the supervisor, Jason Colvin, in his office at Aesir, and learns that Michelle was associated with a military contract to create super-soldiers using the highly addictive drug Valkyr. Only a few subjects showed positive results; the rest saw hallucinations and eventually went insane, so the project was terminated. Jason agrees to testify, as long as Max protects him. When a skeptical Max asks Jason who he is supposed to be protecting him from, Jason answers: "The man that killed your wife!" Max agrees, and starts to escort Jason out of his office, but as they leave, a group of armed NYPD ESU
appear and kill Jason. Max escapes with the evidence and shows the video to Mona. It explains the Valkyr project; Lupino is a former marine and his testimony explains that, while taking the drug, Lupino feels invincible, with no side effects (unlike most other test subjects). Max goes to Lupino's hideout, Ragna Rok. While fighting Lupino, Max's defeat appears to be certain until BB arrives and kills Lupino. Max gets knocked unconscious after the brawl as he is leaving the hideout.
BB explains that he is selling Valkyr and admits to killing Michelle because she inadvertently came across incriminating documents. BB plans to drown Max in the river, with a weight secured to his ankle and Valkyr in his pocket, hoping to make it look like a drug-induced suicide. Before he can be tied to the weight, Max escapes by jumping into the icy river. He swims to shore and, to prevent hypothermia, consumes both vials of Valkyr, transforming himself into a super soldier with visions of Valkyries. Max follows BB back to the Aesir building. Assisted by Mona, he kills many Aesir security employees. Max eventually confronts BB on the building's helipad and kills him.
After the credits, Max is shown arriving at a bar where he meets Mona. She shows him a newspaper article about Aesir's stock prices rising, next to a photo of Aesir CEO Nicole Horne.
was optioned by the production company Collision Entertainment to produce a live-action film adaptation. By April 2002, distributors Dimension Films
and Abandon Entertainment were attached to the project. Shawn Ryan
, the creator of the television series The Shield
, was hired to write a script for the planned film. By June 2005, without production starting, Collision Entertainment had taken the project to 20th Century Fox
. In November 2007, with a script written by Beau Thorne, Fox
announced John Moore as the director and Mark Wahlberg
as the title star.
Filming began in Toronto
on March 2, 2008 and wrapped by May 9, 2008. Shooting the film in 35 mm 3-perf, several different areas around Toronto were used for multiple locations in the movie, including the old Daily Bread food bank building at Bathurst & Lakeshore. It took a full week to shoot just the final gunfight inside the Aesier Headquarters using more than 6,000 squibs
.
Upon finding the building for the Aesir Headquarters it took eight weeks in pre-production
to build the set and another week for the special effects team to install the squibs. The outside top half of the building was completely made of CG, by Mr.X, giving it a more high tech look. Using Google Earth
they were able to find out the building's geometry. No location could be found for a rooftop helipad so a set was built in front of a green screen
. Soho VFX attached the helipad to the building and set it atop New York City.
In order to recreate the bullet time
used in the games without using a complex camera setup, the technique he used is called "Boom Vision". Moore used Vision Research’s Phantom HD digital camera which takes 1,000 fps
. When the video is played back, it gives the illusion of slow motion, a method of high speed photography
. The technique was used for two action scenes and required the construction of a special rigging that had the camera on a propeller that spun at two revolutions per second. The crew was not allowed near it while it was being used for fear of damaging the camera or getting injured. Soho FX then blended the thousands of shots into the other footage during post production.
A contest was held between visual effects teams to see who could create the best drug induced hallucinations. A reel was shot from actual set locations, it also included footage in front of a green screen with a stand in for Wahlberg. The reel was then sent to ten different teams where UK company Spin created the best demo reel. To win Spin changed the falling snow into burning embers over a matte New York skyline painting. During the climactic hallucination scene, the entire room was to be torn apart from the ceiling down around Max. A camera on a track circled Max and Spin later "recreated the ceiling in CG, so it could break away and reveal the Valkyrie world above."
Moore gave the approval on Valkyrie designed by illustrators Chris Roswarne and Rob McCallum. As a point of reference and to limit the use of CG a Valkyrie suit and make up were worn by performer Mako Hindy. Moore "wanted the Valkyries to have a slow motion quality to them, almost as if they were underwater." During the 15 weeks of post-production
the Valkyries were further developed by Spin to support this. Using Maya, 3DS Max, and ZBrush
they were able to create the Valkyries and have control over their wings. The artists sometimes had full control over each individual feather. They had to overcome the darkness of the film as it made it more difficult to track each object. Spin also handled atmospheric CG and the CG matte backdrops elements.
received a PG-13 rating when Payne received an R, said "the MPAA changes their rules willy-nilly and it depends on who’s seeing your actual movie at the time. It’s very difficult to get a hold on what’s acceptable."
On September 22, 2008, a trailer confirmed a PG-13 rating, "for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality, and brief strong language." Director John Moore confirmed in an interview with GameDaily's John Gaudiosi that the film was awarded the PG-13 rating without any major changes being made to the film. Describing the re-editing process Moore stated, "We trimmed some frames more for the sake of trimming frames than anything, but we got the rating without any major changes at all."
The film is rated PG-13 in the United States, a departure from the M-rated video game series. Mila Kunis
said of the tone-down, "It's incredibly dark. You still get the gist of it. The only difference between R-rated and PG-13 is you might not see as much blood. You might not see blood squirting everywhere, but as far as the sadness and the darkness of it and the distraught [nature] of these human beings is very much captured in the film." The film was given the 15 rating in the United Kingdom, for "strong violence" and MA 15+ in Australia for "Frequent violence and drug use".
, receiving numerous negative reviews, with a 16% rating at Rotten Tomatoes
, based on 129 reviews, with the consensus "While it boasts some stylish action, Max Payne suffers severely from an illogical plot and overdirection." Another review aggregator Metacritic
gave the film a 31/100 approval rating based on 25 reviews falling under the "generally unfavorable reviews" category. Members thought that Wahlberg's acting was bad enough to be nominated for a Razzie in the category of worst actor for his work in Max Payne and The Happening
during the 29th annual awards.
Louise Keller said "the most striking element is the production design..." Bruce Paterson wrote for the Australian Film Critics Association
that "Mark Wahlberg is terrific in hard-bitten roles", but in a reference to the Valkyries concluded "it could have done with more of the Norse and less of the force." Critic Armond White
has defended the film stating that Moore "explores genuine, contemporary anxiety [and that] his images are richer than his plots."
On IGN
Jim Vejvoda said "it also doesn't help that Wahlberg gives a drab performance..." and "the rest of the cast doesn't fare much better." He stated that gamers will be disappointed when comparing it to the game and even as a revenge film there is not much here. Despite this mediocre review, IGN went on to give Max Payne the "Best Videogame Adaptation" award of 2008, noting "this is how sad games-to-film have become that the only one worthy of being named the "best" of the year is a movie that we panned."
One of the harshest critics of the film, 3D Realms
CEO Scott Miller, one of the game's producers, cited fundamental story flaws "that have me shaking my head in bewilderment," including the game's opening scenes being instead placed in the middle of the film. After the film's #1 opening weekend, however, he retracted his comments, saying that he was now "proud of the film," and that "this kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel," to the long-stalled video game franchise.
, Silent Hill
, and Resident Evil
. Its international gross was lower than both Silent Hill and Hitman, and it was significantly lower than that of the four live-action Resident Evil films released to date. The film also ranks eleventh in U.S. box-office gross revenues for video game adaptions.
and Blu-ray
on January 20, 2009 and as of August 2009 generated $25,915,457 in DVD sales. All versions contain the theatrical and the uncut versions of the film, and the Blu-ray and the 2-disc DVD contain the "Michelle Payne Animated Graphic Novel" as well as a digital copy
of the uncut version of the film. The uncut version features only 3 minutes of additional footage compared to the theatrical release; the most notable difference is the extra CGI blood. Only the Blu-ray release features a D-BOX
motion code. It went on to receive a score of 7 out of 10 on IGN
, being described as "a first-rate transfer that manages to show off the range of the high-definition format with few, if any, real weaknesses.
The film is loosely based on the video game of the same name developed by Remedy Entertainment
in 2001. The number of differences between the game and the film caused the CEO of 3D Realms and producer behind the game, Scott Miller, to make a public statement against the film. Miller did not approve of the fact that the film's audience does not know why Max is seeking revenge. A flashback scene where Max finds his family murdered was right at the beginning of the game but in the film it was shown mid-film. He was also surprised that one of the story's main villains, Jack Lupino, is killed by Hensley where in the game Max finishes the job personally.
Many people were confused by the addition of the demonic creatures. These creatures seemingly represented Valkyries, though in Norse mythology Valkyries are female warriors and not demonic beings. And though the game makes heavy references to Norse mythology, Valkyries do not actually appear. The film has a much larger element of the supernatural than the game as it was never revealed in the film if they were part of the hallucinations. Max takes the drug in the film to prevent the onset of hypothermia. However, in the game he was forced to take it by Nicole Horne and left for dead.
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
based on the 2001 video game of the same name
Max Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
by Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish computer game developer founded in 1995 and based in Espoo, Finland. The company is best known for its Max Payne and Alan Wake series of video games.-History:...
. It was written by Beau Thorne and was directed by John Moore. The film stars Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
in the title role
Title role
The title role in the performing arts is the performance part that gives the title to the piece, as in Aida, Giselle, Michael Collins or Othello. The actor, singer or dancer who performs that part is also said to have the title role....
as Max Payne
Max Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
, Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
as Mona Sax
Mona Sax
Mona Sax is a fictional character in the first two Max Payne video game series , as well as in the 2008 film.-In video games:...
, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
as Jim Bravura and Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
as BB Hensley. The film revolves around revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
, centering on a policeman's journey through New York City's criminal underworld, as he investigates the deaths of his wife and child.
Filming took place between March and May 2008. Extensive visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
were used in many scenes throughout the film. Max Payne was released on October 16, 2008 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, one day prior to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
release date. Reviews were mostly negative, and some critics cited the film's numerous differences from the video game on which it is based. Despite the negative reviews, the film was able to take the top spot in the box office in its opening weekend and gross more than $110 million worldwide (including DVD sales). Max Payne was released for home video on January 20, 2009.
Plot
Detective Max Payne is a three-year veteran in the Cold Case unit of the New York Police Department (NYPD). He is consumed with investigating and finding the murderer of his wife, Michelle, and their infant child. Trevor, Max's snitch, supplies information that leads Max to three drug addicts in an empty train station. They attempt to rob Max in a bathroom; instead, Max interrogates one of them about his family’s murder, with no results. At Trevor's apartment, Max meets Natasha Sax, who gets into an argument with her sister, MonaMona Sax
Mona Sax is a fictional character in the first two Max Payne video game series , as well as in the 2008 film.-In video games:...
. When Natasha storms off, Max searches for her in the back where partiers are using the drug "Valkyr". Max is silently confronted by Jack Lupino, but Natasha takes Max back to the party. Max notices Natasha’s tattoos and wants information about them, so he invites her back to his apartment. However, when Natasha tries to seduce
Seduction
In social science, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage. The word seduction stems from Latin and means literally "to lead astray". As a result, the term may have a positive or negative connotation...
Max, she makes insensitive comments about his wife and Max kicks her out.
The next morning, Natasha is found dead, and Max's wallet is discovered at the crime scene. Max becomes the prime suspect in the case, with his old partner, Alex Balder, taking part in the investigation. Alex notices the tattoo on Natasha's arm is similar to one found in the case file of Max's wife. Alex tries to contact Max, but with no response, he quickly leaves for Max's apartment. When Max arrives home, he finds the door ajar and his place a mess. Alex lies dead inside and as Max investigates he is knocked unconscious from behind.
Max wakes up in a hospital with his trusted friend BB Hensley, his father's former partner in the NYPD, at his bedside. Hensley is now head of security of the pharmaceutical company Aesir Corporation. Max leaves the hospital early to pay his respects to Alex, but is kicked out by Alex's upset wife Christa. While being questioned by Lieutenant Jim Bravura of Internal Affairs, Max storms out and searches Alex's desk, finding Owen Green's name in Natasha's case file. Later, Max is confronted by Mona, who assumes Max killed her sister, but Max persuades her to help him find the actual killer. Max and Mona find Green, but cannot save him as Owen was hallucinating and as a result falls out of a building to his death.
Max and Mona visit Natasha's tattoo parlor. The tattoo artist
Tattoo artist
A tattoo artist is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a tattoo shop, tattoo studio or tattoo parlour...
tells them Natasha's tattoo represents the wings of a Valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
, which, in Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, are creatures that decide the fate of warriors in battle. Max then goes to take some of Michelle's belongings out of storage and ends up discovering documents from when she worked at the Aesir Corporation. After taking some of the documents, Max meets BB at a diner and demands the name of Michelle's old supervisor.
Max interrogates the supervisor, Jason Colvin, in his office at Aesir, and learns that Michelle was associated with a military contract to create super-soldiers using the highly addictive drug Valkyr. Only a few subjects showed positive results; the rest saw hallucinations and eventually went insane, so the project was terminated. Jason agrees to testify, as long as Max protects him. When a skeptical Max asks Jason who he is supposed to be protecting him from, Jason answers: "The man that killed your wife!" Max agrees, and starts to escort Jason out of his office, but as they leave, a group of armed NYPD ESU
Emergency Service Unit
The Emergency Service Unit is the multi-faceted and multi-talented element within municipal, county, or state authority law enforcement agency’s Special Operations command. ESU’s exist mainly in the regional New York City Area but includes several jurisdictions outside the region. ESU is also...
appear and kill Jason. Max escapes with the evidence and shows the video to Mona. It explains the Valkyr project; Lupino is a former marine and his testimony explains that, while taking the drug, Lupino feels invincible, with no side effects (unlike most other test subjects). Max goes to Lupino's hideout, Ragna Rok. While fighting Lupino, Max's defeat appears to be certain until BB arrives and kills Lupino. Max gets knocked unconscious after the brawl as he is leaving the hideout.
BB explains that he is selling Valkyr and admits to killing Michelle because she inadvertently came across incriminating documents. BB plans to drown Max in the river, with a weight secured to his ankle and Valkyr in his pocket, hoping to make it look like a drug-induced suicide. Before he can be tied to the weight, Max escapes by jumping into the icy river. He swims to shore and, to prevent hypothermia, consumes both vials of Valkyr, transforming himself into a super soldier with visions of Valkyries. Max follows BB back to the Aesir building. Assisted by Mona, he kills many Aesir security employees. Max eventually confronts BB on the building's helipad and kills him.
After the credits, Max is shown arriving at a bar where he meets Mona. She shows him a newspaper article about Aesir's stock prices rising, next to a photo of Aesir CEO Nicole Horne.
Cast
| "The minute I played the game I saw Mark. I was delighted that he agreed to do it. I was also very nervous because if he’d said “no”, I really didn’t have a go-to guy. If he’d turned me down, I don’t think the project would have happened." —John Moore, director |
- Mark WahlbergMark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as Max PayneMax Payne (character)Max Payne is a fictional character from the video game series of the same name, originally created by Remedy Entertainment and 3D Realms. Max is a New York City police officer turned vigilante, notable for his complex use of metaphors and wordplay to describe the world around him within his inner...
: An NYPD cop that is out for revenge against his family's killer. When Wahlberg first read the script he thought it was "awesome" but was wary after finding out it was based on a video game. While describing his role, Wahlberg has said, "It's probably one of the edgier roles I've played but also the most layered. Here's a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It's all driven by emotion." - Beau BridgesBeau BridgesLloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
as B.B. Hensley: Former partner of Max Payne's father, since retired. Bridges had never heard of the game but since his children were excited to learn about his role they convinced him it would be a big movie. - Mila KunisMila KunisMilena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
as Mona SaxMona SaxMona Sax is a fictional character in the first two Max Payne video game series , as well as in the 2008 film.-In video games:...
: A Russian assassin who seeks revenge for the murder of her sister. Kunis had played the video game before reading the script but did not progress very far into it. Kunis's favorite part in preparing for the role was weapons training and safety which included disassembling and rebuilding an MP5KHeckler & Koch MP5The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
blindfolded. - Chris BridgesLudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
as Jim Bravura: an internal affairs lieutenant who is investigating Max. The role was originally written for a 60-year-old man but after auditioning, Bridges got the call from Moore and had the part. - Chris O'DonnellChris O'DonnellChristopher Eugene "Chris" O'Donnell is an American actor. He has played Robin in two Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, Peter Garrett in Vertical Limit, and more recently, Jack McAuliffe in The Company. O'Donnell...
as Jason Colvin, an executive for Aesir and Nicole Horne's "right-hand man". - Nelly FurtadoNelly FurtadoNelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
as Christa Balder, wife of Alex Balder. - Kate BurtonKate Burton (actress)-Personal life:Burton was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the daughter of producer Sybil Burton and actor Richard Burton . She was thus the stepdaughter of actress Elizabeth Taylor and of Sybil's second husband Jordan Christopher. In 1979, Burton earned a bachelor's degree in Russian studies and...
as Nicole Horne, CEO of Aesir Corporation. - Donal LogueDonal LogueDonal Francis Logue is an Canadian actor perhaps most famous for his role as Sean Finnerty in Grounded for Life.-Personal life:...
as Alex Balder, Max Payne's former partner. - Amaury NolascoAmaury NolascoAmaury Nolasco Garrido is a Puerto Rican actor, best known for the role of Fernando Sucre on the television series Prison Break, and for his role in Transformers.-Early life:...
as Jack Lupino. Former Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps where he became a Valkyr test subject. - Olga KurylenkoOlga KurylenkoOlha Kostyantynivna Kurylenko , better known as Olga Kurylenko, is a French actress and model. She is perhaps best known as the Bond girl, Camille Montes, in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. She also portrayed Nika Boronina in the movie adaptation of the video game Hitman...
as Natasha Sax, Mona's sister. - Joel GordonJoel GordonJoel Gordon is a Canadian actor and director. As an actor, his first movie appearance was in Rude, which was screened at Cannes. In 2008, he appeared in Max Payne as the character Owen Green. His work as a television producer has earned three Gemini nominations from the Academy of Canadian Cinema...
as Owen Green - Jamie HectorJamie HectorJamie Hector is an Haitian-American actor who is known for his portrayal of Marlo Stanfield on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire.- Biography :...
as Lincoln DeNeuf, a Haitian crime boss - Marianthi Evans as Michelle Payne, Max Payne's late wife.
Development
The 2001 video game Max PayneMax Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
was optioned by the production company Collision Entertainment to produce a live-action film adaptation. By April 2002, distributors Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
and Abandon Entertainment were attached to the project. Shawn Ryan
Shawn Ryan
Shawn Ryan is a writer, and the creator of the FX Networks series The Shield and the Fox TV series The Chicago Code.-Education/Personal life:...
, the creator of the television series The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
, was hired to write a script for the planned film. By June 2005, without production starting, Collision Entertainment had taken the project to 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. In November 2007, with a script written by Beau Thorne, Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
announced John Moore as the director and Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as the title star.
Filming began in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on March 2, 2008 and wrapped by May 9, 2008. Shooting the film in 35 mm 3-perf, several different areas around Toronto were used for multiple locations in the movie, including the old Daily Bread food bank building at Bathurst & Lakeshore. It took a full week to shoot just the final gunfight inside the Aesier Headquarters using more than 6,000 squibs
Squib (explosive)
A squib is a miniature explosive device used in a wide range of industries, from special effects to military applications. It resembles a tiny stick of dynamite, both in appearance and construction, although with considerably less explosive power...
.
Upon finding the building for the Aesir Headquarters it took eight weeks in pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
to build the set and another week for the special effects team to install the squibs. The outside top half of the building was completely made of CG, by Mr.X, giving it a more high tech look. Using Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
they were able to find out the building's geometry. No location could be found for a rooftop helipad so a set was built in front of a green screen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
. Soho VFX attached the helipad to the building and set it atop New York City.
In order to recreate the bullet time
Bullet time
Bullet time is a special and visual effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed photography used in films, broadcast advertisements, and video games...
used in the games without using a complex camera setup, the technique he used is called "Boom Vision". Moore used Vision Research’s Phantom HD digital camera which takes 1,000 fps
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
. When the video is played back, it gives the illusion of slow motion, a method of high speed photography
High speed photography
High speed photography is the science of taking pictures of very fast phenomena. In 1948, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers defined high-speed photography as any set of photographs captured by a camera capable of 128 frames per second or greater, and of at least three...
. The technique was used for two action scenes and required the construction of a special rigging that had the camera on a propeller that spun at two revolutions per second. The crew was not allowed near it while it was being used for fear of damaging the camera or getting injured. Soho FX then blended the thousands of shots into the other footage during post production.
A contest was held between visual effects teams to see who could create the best drug induced hallucinations. A reel was shot from actual set locations, it also included footage in front of a green screen with a stand in for Wahlberg. The reel was then sent to ten different teams where UK company Spin created the best demo reel. To win Spin changed the falling snow into burning embers over a matte New York skyline painting. During the climactic hallucination scene, the entire room was to be torn apart from the ceiling down around Max. A camera on a track circled Max and Spin later "recreated the ceiling in CG, so it could break away and reveal the Valkyrie world above."
Moore gave the approval on Valkyrie designed by illustrators Chris Roswarne and Rob McCallum. As a point of reference and to limit the use of CG a Valkyrie suit and make up were worn by performer Mako Hindy. Moore "wanted the Valkyries to have a slow motion quality to them, almost as if they were underwater." During the 15 weeks of post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
the Valkyries were further developed by Spin to support this. Using Maya, 3DS Max, and ZBrush
ZBrush
ZBrush is a digital sculpting tool that combines 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing and painting. It uses a proprietary "pixol" technology which stores lighting, color, material, and depth information for all objects on the screen...
they were able to create the Valkyries and have control over their wings. The artists sometimes had full control over each individual feather. They had to overcome the darkness of the film as it made it more difficult to track each object. Spin also handled atmospheric CG and the CG matte backdrops elements.
Rating
Though filmed with the intention of receiving a PG-13 rating, Max Payne received an unofficial R rating by the MPAA on September 5, 2008. Moore, angered that the equally dark The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
received a PG-13 rating when Payne received an R, said "the MPAA changes their rules willy-nilly and it depends on who’s seeing your actual movie at the time. It’s very difficult to get a hold on what’s acceptable."
On September 22, 2008, a trailer confirmed a PG-13 rating, "for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality, and brief strong language." Director John Moore confirmed in an interview with GameDaily's John Gaudiosi that the film was awarded the PG-13 rating without any major changes being made to the film. Describing the re-editing process Moore stated, "We trimmed some frames more for the sake of trimming frames than anything, but we got the rating without any major changes at all."
The film is rated PG-13 in the United States, a departure from the M-rated video game series. Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
said of the tone-down, "It's incredibly dark. You still get the gist of it. The only difference between R-rated and PG-13 is you might not see as much blood. You might not see blood squirting everywhere, but as far as the sadness and the darkness of it and the distraught [nature] of these human beings is very much captured in the film." The film was given the 15 rating in the United Kingdom, for "strong violence" and MA 15+ in Australia for "Frequent violence and drug use".
Critical response
The film has been panned by critics and fans of the video gameMax Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
, receiving numerous negative reviews, with a 16% rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 129 reviews, with the consensus "While it boasts some stylish action, Max Payne suffers severely from an illogical plot and overdirection." Another review aggregator Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film a 31/100 approval rating based on 25 reviews falling under the "generally unfavorable reviews" category. Members thought that Wahlberg's acting was bad enough to be nominated for a Razzie in the category of worst actor for his work in Max Payne and The Happening
The Happening (2008 film)
The Happening is a 2008 science fiction thriller film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan that follows a woman, her husband, the husband's best friend, and the friend's daughter as they try to escape from an inexplicable natural disaster. The plot revolves around a mysterious...
during the 29th annual awards.
Louise Keller said "the most striking element is the production design..." Bruce Paterson wrote for the Australian Film Critics Association
Australian Film Critics Association
The Australian Film Critics Association or AFCA is an Australian film critic organisation.-History:Formed in 1996, AFCA began as the Melbourne Film Critics’ Forum, expanding to a national organisation in 2004...
that "Mark Wahlberg is terrific in hard-bitten roles", but in a reference to the Valkyries concluded "it could have done with more of the Norse and less of the force." Critic Armond White
Armond White
Armond White is a New York-based film and music critic known for his provocative and idiosyncratic film criticism, which some have characterized as contrarian. He is currently the editor of City Arts, for which he also writes articles and reviews...
has defended the film stating that Moore "explores genuine, contemporary anxiety [and that] his images are richer than his plots."
On IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
Jim Vejvoda said "it also doesn't help that Wahlberg gives a drab performance..." and "the rest of the cast doesn't fare much better." He stated that gamers will be disappointed when comparing it to the game and even as a revenge film there is not much here. Despite this mediocre review, IGN went on to give Max Payne the "Best Videogame Adaptation" award of 2008, noting "this is how sad games-to-film have become that the only one worthy of being named the "best" of the year is a movie that we panned."
One of the harshest critics of the film, 3D Realms
3D Realms
3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
CEO Scott Miller, one of the game's producers, cited fundamental story flaws "that have me shaking my head in bewilderment," including the game's opening scenes being instead placed in the middle of the film. After the film's #1 opening weekend, however, he retracted his comments, saying that he was now "proud of the film," and that "this kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel," to the long-stalled video game franchise.
Awards
Mark Wahlberg received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor, also nominated for The HappeningBox office
Despite negative reviews from critics, Max Payne opened #1 at the box office with $17,639,849 during its first weekend against newcomers Sex Drive, The Secret Life of Bees, and W. The film earned $40,689,393 domestically and $44,727,512 overseas, making a worldwide total of $85,416,905. While it is not considered an overwhelming success, its U.S. gross was around the same range as other video game adaptations such as HitmanHitman (2007 film)
Hitman is a 2007 film directed by Xavier Gens and based on the video game series of the same name. A gun-for-hire "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered assassin known as Agent 47. He is hired by a group, 'The Organization' and becomes ensnared in a political conspiracy. He finds himself pursued by...
, Silent Hill
Silent Hill (film)
Silent Hill is a 2006 horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary. The story is an adaptation of the Silent Hill series of survival horror video games created by Konami. The film, particularly its emotional, religious and aesthetic content as well as its creature design,...
, and Resident Evil
Resident Evil (film)
Resident Evil is a British-German 2002 horror film written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, and James Purefoy...
. Its international gross was lower than both Silent Hill and Hitman, and it was significantly lower than that of the four live-action Resident Evil films released to date. The film also ranks eleventh in U.S. box-office gross revenues for video game adaptions.
Home media
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on January 20, 2009 and as of August 2009 generated $25,915,457 in DVD sales. All versions contain the theatrical and the uncut versions of the film, and the Blu-ray and the 2-disc DVD contain the "Michelle Payne Animated Graphic Novel" as well as a digital copy
Digital copy
Digital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
of the uncut version of the film. The uncut version features only 3 minutes of additional footage compared to the theatrical release; the most notable difference is the extra CGI blood. Only the Blu-ray release features a D-BOX
D-Box
D-BOX Technologies is a Canadian company that produces motion simulation systems and control devices that work with supporting movie and game titles to provide motion to viewers...
motion code. It went on to receive a score of 7 out of 10 on IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, being described as "a first-rate transfer that manages to show off the range of the high-definition format with few, if any, real weaknesses.
Differences from the game
- For more information, see Max PayneMax PayneMax Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
.
The film is loosely based on the video game of the same name developed by Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish computer game developer founded in 1995 and based in Espoo, Finland. The company is best known for its Max Payne and Alan Wake series of video games.-History:...
in 2001. The number of differences between the game and the film caused the CEO of 3D Realms and producer behind the game, Scott Miller, to make a public statement against the film. Miller did not approve of the fact that the film's audience does not know why Max is seeking revenge. A flashback scene where Max finds his family murdered was right at the beginning of the game but in the film it was shown mid-film. He was also surprised that one of the story's main villains, Jack Lupino, is killed by Hensley where in the game Max finishes the job personally.
Many people were confused by the addition of the demonic creatures. These creatures seemingly represented Valkyries, though in Norse mythology Valkyries are female warriors and not demonic beings. And though the game makes heavy references to Norse mythology, Valkyries do not actually appear. The film has a much larger element of the supernatural than the game as it was never revealed in the film if they were part of the hallucinations. Max takes the drug in the film to prevent the onset of hypothermia. However, in the game he was forced to take it by Nicole Horne and left for dead.