Wednesday
22Oct2008
'Max Payne' "Bewildered" Video Game Company
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 1:05AM
Movie critics aren't the only ones who don't like the
new video game movie,
Max Payne. Even though the film debuted at
number one, a seat it will give up this weekend,
Payne is proving to be painful to people who have played the game, and
especially irritating to those who produced it.
He added, "A big problem with the film is that we do not really know what is driving Max until we see the flashback scene showing him coming home and finding his family murdered. In the game, we put this scene right at the front of the story for a reason!"
"Saving this scene until mid-film is a narrative blunder, because the audience needs to empathize with Max in order to like him and understand what drives him," explains Miller.I'll go yes and no on that, because it's explained why Payne is the way he is at the outset and there are other hints about his family throughout the first 30 or 40 minutes of the movie. I don't know that it's a "blunder" per se, but I can also understand why he feels that way.
Miller added that he "could go on and on" about the film's problems, which included the central character, played by Mark Wahlberg, who Miller belived fell short of the hero in the game.
Reader Comments (2)
I'm guessing that Scott Miller and 3-D Realms had no problem cashing the check that Fox paid them to option the story. They should take a page from the Marvel playbook and start their own studio if they aren't happy with what the majors are doing with their creative properties. Otherwise, do like Stephen King and walk away a little richer and do what you do best: make video games.
Miller has a point. As a fan of the video game, I found that the movie was cringe inducing. Wahlberg may have nailed the confused/constipated Max Payne sneer but that wasn't nearly enough to make up for a lackluster performance. He made Max seem mechanical whereas Max Payne caked on the snark. And the narration. The narration is crucial to understanding Max Payne. Even though it IS an adaptation certain elements evident in the game didn't have to be sacrificed. Anyone agree that video game adaptations should also be stepped up? Comic book adaptations were dismissed for years as never possessing a shred of relevance to cinema and a person's life yet they have improved greatly. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, (soon to be released) Watchmen, etc. etc. I say it's time to make video game adaptations just as good.