The Film

I don't believe in Heaven. I believe in pain. I believe in fear. I believe in death.

Yeah. Max Payne isn't a cheery guy. However, he does start in his own kick-ass video game. As you may well know, most video games don't translate well to the big screen. Max Payne is no exception.

Crazy cop Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is out for revenge on the thugs that killed his wife and infant son. During the hunt, he crosses paths with hallucinatory drugs, a bunch of bizarre deaths, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall star Mila Kunis. The end result comes off as Sin City meets The Punisher. Sadly, the storyline and acting is more along the lines of the latter.

As a third-person shooter game, Max Payne is a blaze of glorious gunfire. The film also has its share, which make for its most entertaining moments. Still, it's movies like this one that keep the nickname "Marky Mark" alive and well. Looking at this, it's hard to consider Wahlberg as a serious actor. That guy in The Departed, though; we'd love to see him get his own shotgun and a feature-length action flick.

Need a second opinion?  Check out Mark Grady's review of the theatrical release of Max Payne.

The Picture

If Max Payne does have one friend, it's Blu-ray. Despite the drab story, director John Moore really created a garden of A/V delights that could make it well worth the painful viewing process.

This 2.35:1 transfer delivers more fun on-screen than the video game, and may even induce a seizure or two. In other words, this movie features a barrage of non-stop action. Thank goodness, because the storyline certainly isn't going to keep your short-attention span riveted for the 103-minute runtime. The blacks are bold, and the flying creatures are creepy. Also, if the bullets seem to be whizzing too fast for you, there are a ton of slo-mo scenes. Yeah -- it's lame and cheesy, but the details that pop out of those incidents look awesome in HD.

The Sound

The DTS-HD Master Audio mix in Max Payne should have your neighbors scrambling for 911. The film is filled with surround-sound action, from bone-crunching punches to breaking glass to bullets aplenty. Although the film isn't great, the sound is amazing.

The Extras

Don't get all frothy over the BonusView feature "Walkthroughs and Cheats." It has nothing to do with the videogame. Instead, this extra, which is only available on the theatrical version, offers typical making-of info via a picture-in-picture window. In case you don't like being distracted, there is the two-part "Picture" feature on either version, which shows other making-of moments shot documentary-style. Fans may appreciate the Michelle Payne short, which gives additional background on the most important, but least fleshed out character in the film: Max's dead wife.

Final Thoughts

Can you name a film adaptation of a video game that was any good? After seeing Max Payne, you probably still can't. The film might be worth a rental, though, just for a bit of fun with your Blu-ray setup. After all, you've probably spent hours wasting your life away playing Max Payne; what's a few more, right?

Where to Buy:

• Max Payne on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Chris O'Donnell, Donal Logue, Amaury Nolasco, Olga Kurylenko
• Director: John Moore
• Audio/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French, Spanish)
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Region: A
• Number of Discs: 2
• Rating: PG-13
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: January 20, 2009
• Run Time: 103 minutes (Unrated), 100 minutes (Theatrical)
• List Price: $39.99
• Extras:
• Theatrical & Unrated Versions
• Commentary by Director John Moore, Production Designer Daniel Dorrance & Visual Effects Supervisor Everett Burrell (Unrated)
• Picture Documentary (Unrated)
• Michelle Payne Graphic Novel (Unrated)
• BonusView: Walkthroughs and Cheats - Making Max Payne (Theatrical)
• BonusView: Behind the Scenes with Director John Moore (Theatrical)
• Picture Parts 1 & 2
• Trailers
• D-Box Motion Code
• Digital Copy