Blu-ray Review: Max Payne (Unrated)

Release Date: January 20th, 2009
Running Time: 103 minutes

The Film

Eight years ago when the videogame Max Payne was released it received quite a bit of attention both for its mature graphic novel noir feel, as well as its hectic, bullet-time riddled action scenes. At that time not many games had implemented that style into the gunplay, and Max Payne was loaded with it. Nearly a decade after the original game, a film adaptation was finally cooked up. While I did not particularly enjoy the film, Max Payne has a technically brilliant Blu-ray disc and a respectable spread of extra content.

The film stars Mark Wahlberg as New York City Detective Max Payne. It has been three years since his wife and infant were brutally murdered. Since then he has been working in the Cold Case files trying to find the identity of the third attacker from that fateful night. Former cop and old friend, B. B. Hensley (Beau Bridgers), tries to convince Max to let the past go, but he will not. Meanwhile junkies all over the city have been taking this unknown blue liquid drug and freaking out with horrible hallucinations of winged monsters, usually ending in their accidental deaths.

While continuing his investigation, Max meets a mysterious woman named Natasha who has a wing tattoo on her arm, similar to the junkies. He takes her home, but ultimately gives her the boot from his apartment after she makes an off color remark about his past. That night she winds up dead in an alley with Max’s wallet on her. Max ignores the pleas of his former partner, Detective Balder (Donal Logue), and refuses to turn himself in for questioning since he had nothing to do with the murder. This sparks an internal affairs investigation led by Jim Bravura (Ludacris), who is constantly a few steps behind Max.

Detective Balder was assigned to the case of the murder of Max’s family. Since then he has beaten himself up, and gotten plenty of hell from Max, for not doing enough on the case. After the alley murder, Balder goes through his files one more time and comes across a picture of someone with a winged tattoo on their forearm. Balder believes he may have found a link between the recent murder and that of Max’s family, but is killed before he can speak to Max. Max becomes a suspect for yet another murder. With the help of Natasha’s sister, Mona Sax (Mila Kunis), Max goes on the run to track down the truth behind the tattoos, his family’s murder, and the crazy junkies.

I wanted to like Max Payne. All of the posters for the film were very stylish, and trailers looked promising, but ultimately I was not entertained. I found the film to be very dull, neither fully embracing the noir or action natures of the game. The best parts were undoubtedly when Max goes ballistic while on the drugs at the end of the film, particularly his awesome use of a shotgun. To give props where props are due, this ranks up there with some of the best shotgun action I have ever seen. In fact, most of the gunplay was very good—there just wasn’t enough of it. Max is supposed to be this ultra-tough cop with a badass reputation, but I never felt it from him outside of his constant frown. The drug-induced hallucinations are interesting as well but don’t have any real power to them because you know they are drug reactions. It is cool from a visual perspective, but story wise the scenes do not hold any reason tension.

The disc includes both the Theatrical and Unrated cuts of the film. I never saw the Theatrical, but I am guessing the numerous mists of blood from the gunshots were added back in to the Blu-ray.

The Disc

The video is presented in a spectacular 2.35:1, 1080p High Definition transfer. The film has two distinct color schemes: the stylized noir blues, grays, and blacks of the city; and the fiery oranges of the hallucinations. No matter what color is on the screen, it looks phenomenal. Most importantly, the black levels are flawless with tons of shadow detail. You can make out a lot of nuance in the very dark environments due to the black levels being some of the strongest I have seen on the format. The image is very sharp with a high level of fine detail in all areas, from close ups and clothing textures, to chunks of ice floating in the water. The snowstorm shows off an undeniable level of depth to the image as well. With no digital noise, compression artifacts, or print damage, this transfer is about as good as they come.

The audio is offered in an English DTS 5.1 Master Lossless audio track, as well as Spanish/French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with English/Spanish/Chinese/Korean subtitles. Though I wish the film had more action, the audio is no slouch when those moments come. The scenes engulf you in the moment, pumping out chaotic effects from all channels. The hallucination scenes are surreal with the winged monsters flying across all of the speakers, giving you that same surrounded feeling that the characters feel. The deep punch of the shotgun blasts you with bass, while the blade slashes have crystal-clear highs. A C4 explosion is also a perfect example of the dynamic range between the soul-shattering bass of the bomb combined with the highs heard from the shattered windows. The destruction is exquisite with each tiny effect being distinct. Since the action scenes aren’t as frequent as I would have liked, it has to be noted that the atmospheric effects do a great job of bringing the city to life. Audio-wise, there is never a dull moment. Despite being a somewhat loud mix, the dialogue is clear throughout.

The Extras

An ample selection of special features is offered.

Commentary is offered with Director John Moore, Production Designer Daniel Dorrance, and VFX Supervisor Everett Burrell. The participants are energetic and have a lot to say, particularly about the film’s visuals, but the track won’t make you enjoy the film any more.

“Picture” is an hour-long documentary. The candid piece presents a blend of information, including the usual production footage and interviews. Time is also spent discussion filmmaking in general, and moments of the production that were awful for one reason or another. While it is not a definitive “making-of” documentary, the broad scope of the interesting topics makes it feel fresher than most special features.

“Michelle Payne” is a 14-minute animated graphic novel that details Michelle’s backstory. I have seen a few of these animated graphic novels now, and this is not one of the better examples.

The “Bonusview” feature has two Picture-in-Picture options. Some of the footage is recycled from the documentary, while others are new.

“Walkthroughs and Cheats: Making Max Payne” is production heavy and features behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and concept art for nearly every major moment in the film. If you are strictly interested in information about the production, this is a more complete piece than the documentary.

“Behind the Scenes with Director John Moore” is a collection of footage of Moore on the set that will give you a feeling for his directorial style and hands-on approach.

The disc is D-Box enabled and finishes off the special features with Previews and a Digital Copy of the film.

Final Thoughts

Even though the film did not resonate with me, Max Payne has a reference quality Blu-ray disc that is packed with excellent special features. I would just recommend you see the film first before purchasing the disc.