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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Max Payne
20th Century Fox


5.1

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 97 votes
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FILM:

MPAA 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)

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:	DVD: January 20, 2009 Theatrical: October 17, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	99 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA
LANGUAGE(S):	Spanish \| English

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.

TV Guide Cammila Albertson

For a movie of its type, Max Payne is a little short on excitement and heavy on pathos.

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Max Payne, game or movie, has precious little to say.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A film that feels far too familiar for the likes of Wahlberg to juice up, hallucinatory valkyries or no.

Empire Staff (Not credited)

This tired, neutered action thriller won't cause you max pain, but you might wince every now and again.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The best way to sit through Max Payne is by using minimal brain.

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.

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.

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.

Variety Justin Chang

Stylishly made, armed to the teeth and ludicrous in the extreme.

LA Weekly Jim Ridley

The role requires Wahlberg to run the gamut of emotions from A to A.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's just a grindingly inert death-wish thriller.

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.

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.1 (out of 10) based on 97 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

R. L. gave it a10:
Exceptional!! Max Payne is by far the best video game to screen adaption yet. After last years train wreck Hit man, Max Payne makes going to the movies cool again after all the dumb and stupid action thrillers that have come out this year, I found Max Payne among my favorites, It had a story and a depth of character we all can relate to in some way, Mark Whalberg play maverick cop Max Payne a cop tortured by his families murder and will do anything to get revenge for their murders. It's a truly great movie, very dark and serious & total complete fun from start to finish. I very highly recommend this movie!

Cat S gave it a9:
Listen. This movie is not trying to be anything that it isn't. I found it highly enjoyable and very entertaining. I think that if you go see it for what it is -- a dark, gritty movie based on a video game -- then you will enjoy yourself.

George gave it a2:
This could have been so much better.

J Beanz gave it a0:
Wow. This movie is crap. And before you readers say I didn't play the game, and thats why I didn't like it, I did play the video games, loved them, and hated this movie. The plot wasn't developed well enough to keep me interested, and the scenes where he used the slo-mo were not dramatic enough. This movie just sucked and I'm sad that Marky Mark had to be a part of it because he is a great actor.

Richard L. gave it a10:
Truly amazing!! Max Payne is one of the best video game to screen adaption yet. I highly enjoyed this dark and gritty crime thriller, Mark Whalberg does an amazing job as Max Payne a cop haunted and tormented by his family's murder and he will stop at nothing to get revenge for their deaths, with that said Max Payne leads you on a roller coaster ride of thrills and non-stop action that all leads up to the shocking and explosive finale. John Moore directs a totally awesome crime thriller that won't stop amazing and shocking you till the end, Beau Bridges & Mila Kunis deliver great performances, the only weak leak in this movie is Luidacris his performance is very weak and unrealistic and very single minded and boring. Besides that It's a great Crime film. I very highly recommend this film.

Matt D gave it a3:
I still have yet to find a movie based on a video game franchise that is worth ten or so dollars paid to see it. the problem is the developers tried to hard to make it like the game.

Angus M. gave it a6:
I know the plot really sucked and was badly explained, but the visual style of the film was awesome and the acting was passable too. most of the action was cool and well-shot, except one stupid slow-mo bit where max bends backwards with the shotgun and ends up looking like an idiot.

Max Payne 20th Century Fox

Max Payne
20th Century Fox