One of the most fun games I played at the turn of the century was Max Payne. Great story, awesome use of effects, and rediculously fun game mechanics that allowed you to mix cinematic film noir styling with Matrix action.
I have always enjoyed Mark Wahlberg in film, so to find out that he was being cast as the titular Max Payne I was very optimistic.
The film-noirish, John Woo-esque “Payne” was a huge hit when it premiered for PCs in 2001, spawning a sequel and selling more than 7 million units. But its success comes not just from gameplay, which is untranslatable to the big screen anyway, said Wahlberg, but from a surprisingly adult, sophisticated, and yes, complex lead character unusual for the medium.
“I read the script and said either somebody got really creative or it’s actually more like a movie than most games,” Wahlberg enthused.
Mark Wahlberg is no slacker when it comes to acting. He plays very different roles and shines in them all. So when someone this dynamic faces such deep challenge in the role, you have to consider that.
But more importantly, as a fan of the video game I am very encouraged to see that they are not sacrificing depth for some weak adapatation of a video game.
Also, some of the scenes were filmed in my hometown of Hamilton (most recently we also had the Hulk filming) and Union Station in Toronto, so I am looking forward to trying to pick out the locales.
