Max Payne [Blu-ray] Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) 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.
Mark Wahlberg does an excellent job portraying Max Payne, a NY City Detective who wants revenge for the murders of his wife and child. The plot is simple and it works for this movie that is based on a video game. I don’t think you go see a movie of this nature expecting a drama or some heavy dialogue. You go for the action and excitement and Max Payne certainly delivers. Mila Kunis plays Mona Sax who befriends Max Payne and helps him uncover the truth about his family’s murders. I liked her performance and it shows that she is growing as an actress and deserves to be considered for diverse roles. Another person who I really thought did a fine job was Beau Bridges as Max’s good friend BB Hensley.
The picture quality is beautiful in high def Blu-ray and is better than expected for a darker noir film. Noise wasn’t really a problem and even though colors are often muted, when they are prevalent, they really are vibrant. The image sharpness was unmatched in recent releases and the photography is exceptional with the angles and wide shots that really give a unique style to differentiate this movie. I also liked when there are dark scenes, with creatures in the shadows, when the film slows down to a slow motion so you can really get a good look at these creatures and this really helps the audience to get a good look and understanding at what is going on instead of just keeping the action moving too fast to really see and confusing the audience.
The audio in DTS-HD Master Audio is reference quality. The voices are clearly audible and the action sequences are crystal clear. Your subwoofer will get a work out and hopefully it is up to the challenge. I haven’t been this impressed with sound and picture in quite some time. This is truly an excellent movie to show off your high def TV as well as your speaker set up.
This Blu-ray also has an array of features that are quite lengthy and in-depth.
Bonus Features:
- Commentary by Director John Moore, Production Designer Daniel Dorrance, and Visual Effects Supervisor Everett Burrell
- Bonus Features
- Picture: Parts 1 & 2
- (HD) Michelle Payne Graphic Novel – animated stills
- Blu-ray Disc Exclusive: Bonusview PiP – Walk throughs and cheats, behind the scenes featurette, interview with Director John Moore
- Theatrical and Unrated versions of the film
- (HD) BD Previews – Babylon A.D. and Mirrors
- Digital Copy Bonus Disc – A standard definition version of the film that can be downloaded from a compatible PC to a portable playback device
- D-Box Motion Code
All in all, I loved this movie. Mark Wahlberg getting revenge as the main plot is good enough for me and in high def Blu-ray, it is that much more enjoyable. I highly recommend this movie if you are an action junkie or simply a Whalberg fan. I didn’t get to see Max Payne when it was at the theaters and I know it got mixed reviews when it came out but, the action sequences and visual effects are enough to keep me captivated for the 103 minutes that it took to watch the unrated version and hopefully you will enjoy it just the same. |
