Game <-> Movie conversions don't seem to work to well either way.
I was sceptical when I heard that milksob Mark Wahlberg was to play the scruffy, cynical cop. Stills from the movie made me rent it anyway - the look seemed to match the game's pretty well. So much for the things it does right. Now for the "wrongs" list:
- In the first minute, when Wahlberg was trying to sound like Max Payne, it was so slurry I couldn't understand a word. Later on he'd just sound like himself (milksob)
- The film noir feeling is lost, despite the scenes looking quite right.
- Characters are totally out-of-character: Payne is a hero (instead of an anti-hero), Mona Sax is a over-styled teenage punk (instead of an elegant, dangerous femme fatale), etc. etc.
- The story is totally ruined: robbed of its complexity, people's motives reduced to the most banal / questionable ones. (especially B.B. Hensley). It ends in a forced cliffhanger.
In other words. Avoid this film. Play the game(s).
