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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Max Payne
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 129 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Crime | Drama | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Beau Thorne
Sam Lake (video game by Remedy Entertainment and 3-D Realms Entertainment)
Directed by: John Moore
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 17, 2008
DVD: January 20, 2009
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Language(s): Spanish | English
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, and Olga Kurylenko
Max Payne is a maverick cop - a mythic anti-hero - determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murders of his family and partner. Hell-bent on revenge, his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmare journey into a dark underworld. As the mystery deepens, Max is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face an unthinkable betrayal. (20th Century Fox)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Behind Enemy Lines Flight of the Phoenix The Omen
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
A dumb film with a great conceptual hook from a director who visualizes better than he dramatizes.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Cammila Albertson
For a movie of its type, Max Payne is a little short on excitement and heavy on pathos.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Mark Bell
Simple, it is as by-the-books formulaic as can be, and there's not a surprise around that the corner that isn't obvious immediately.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Max Payne, game or movie, has precious little to say.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
The attempts to out-Matrix "The Matrix," with bullet-time super-slo mo, are staged with such theatrics that they're unintentionally funny. This movie also has "Blade Runner" on its mind, and Raymond Chandler, but mostly it's a weak little sister to "Sin City."
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The film provides ample opportunity to attack the MPAA's hypocrisy. Max Payne is a bloodbath, yet it manages a PG-13 rating by keeping the explicitness of the killings just a whisker shy of what would be necessary for an R.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
At least in a video game the player decides who needs to be killed, and what trail to take in the labyrinth. The Max Payne moviegoers are passive hostages on a long ride they've taken so many times before.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
In a post-Matrix, post-John Woo world, a handful of slow-motion shootouts shouldn't be all that's on offer.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
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.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
A film that feels far too familiar for the likes of Wahlberg to juice up, hallucinatory valkyries or no.
Read Full Review >Empire Staff (Not credited)
This tired, neutered action thriller won't cause you max pain, but you might wince every now and again.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The best way to sit through Max Payne is by using minimal brain.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
What kills Max Payne is that the characters think and feel in slow motion. Half the time, mentally, they're just running in place.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Max Payne couldn't be more appropriately named. Sitting through this stylish-looking but derivative, vacuous and bullet-riddled movie inflicts maximum pain.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
A banal revenge melodrama-cum-detective story, but fans of the video game on which it is based should not be alarmed.
Read Full Review >Variety Justin Chang
Stylishly made, armed to the teeth and ludicrous in the extreme.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Jim Ridley
The role requires Wahlberg to run the gamut of emotions from A to A.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Mike Mayo
This highly stylized adaptation of the popular Max Payne video game is 70 percent dark, snowy atmospherics and 30 percent loud, violent action.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
With its flat story, numbed-out protagonist, and faux artistic lighting and set design - everything is dark or moody or darkishly moody or moodily dark - Max Payne seems a good half hour longer than its running time.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
If you stay and watch the endless end credits, there's a short scene that hints a sequel is coming. That's what I call real pain.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
This is not a movie that has great passion for pleasures of the flesh. Its sexiest scenes involve bullets cutting through the air in the slowest motion possible.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Max Payne offers max pain along with min invention, and the only thing that keeps it out of the bottom of the Dumpster--it’s more of a top-of-the-Dumpster movie--is the presence of Mark Wahlberg.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It's just a grindingly inert death-wish thriller.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Sam Adams
Turning video games into movies may be one way for studios to coax teenagers away from their laptops, but this time around, the results are miserable, in every sense of the word.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The story has more holes than a shot-up metal door, the acting feels bored at best, and the intermittent action, while passable, hardly makes up for the downtime.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 129 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
elias c gave it a1:
A terrible adaptation of the game. Witless and confusing, and badly acted, the only saving grace for tis film is the visual style that the director uses, or more accurately, attempts to copy from the video game., However viewers will quickly tire of the monotonous use of CGI snow and rain to show us how dismal this fantasy version of New York is. Save your time and skip this one.
Renán B gave it a2:
One of the worst video game adaptations ever made. This flick is quite inept in so many levels.
Jorge M gave it a7:
This was a good adaption from the video game. The plot was awesome it was good how they captured everything from the game, the cast was good, and the characters were okay, and the scene's were okay could of been better.
Keenan S. gave it a6:
To date, I have seen thirteen video game films, and this one of my least favorite of the bunch. Loved the Resident Evil films (All 4), Silent Hill, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Tomb Raider films and Hitman. Those were my favorites of all of them. Unfortunately, Max Payne just feels like a lazy attempt to cash in on the game's name instead of actually doing anything remarkable. This was a pretty dull action film, but it just managed to barely save itself from sucking. I recommend the video game films I mentioned long before I'd recommend this lazy and rather boring film. It's not bad, but it's just not that good. Too bad, especially considering Twentieth Century Fox did such a good job with Hitman.
Decepticon Pom gave it a0:
I'm gay and would normally drool over both Wahlberg and O'Connell but this was so bad, I converted to Christ and preyed for a power cut. It didn't come. The existence of this film and failure for me to be delivered from its agony are proof there is no higher power!
Jared J gave it a10:
I fail to see why this got a 5.4 when the god awefull "Hitman" got a 9.8 (or 8.9) "Hitman" had no connection with the games. "Max Payne" has everything, even right down to the snow storm. It was nice to see the voice-actor of the first game play a role. I did not mind spending the $27.95 for the Unrated extended cut eddition and that came with a digital version, people these days love movies that suck and hate movies that are amazing (like this.)
John M gave it a7:
After reading the critics reviews I was a little wary of renting this movie but as a Sci-Fi Fan and an avid videogamer I did enjoy it. Yes, it was a bit slow starting but I found the last 45 minutes pretty interesting.
