Max Payne (Wahlberg) is an investigator haunted by the violent murder of his wife and child. And his latest case seems to be connected to the killings in some mysterious way. After he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, wanted for a murder he didn't commit, he teams up with feisty hit-woman Mona Sax (Kunis) and his old boss (Beau Bridges), but he can't start tracking down the bad guy until he figures out who it is. And all roads seem to lead to the mega-corporation Aesir.

It's hard to imagine a more cynical Hollywood product than this vacuous movie. Visually, the film steals liberally from the likes of Sin City (desaturated images with glaring spot colour) and The Matrix (constant barrage of gunfight in bullet time). In other words, it looks fantastic, and even achieves some beautiful imagery in the snow and rain. There's also an intriguing supernatural element to the story in the winged tattoos worn by members of a secret society of super-soldiers (they may also be angels or demons) addicted to a blue liquid.

But with all of the attention on style, the characters fall through the cracks, mainly because they are completely lacking in personality. The women have especially thankless roles, and none of the cast members manage to make anything more of their role, or emerge from the non-stop carnage as someone interesting (where's Jason Statham when we need him?). Meanwhile the violence and sex have clearly been neutered to get a PG-13 rating, which eliminates even the guilty pleasure possibilities.

The script is packed with Norse mythology and slinky Russian babes. But it's impossible to make any sense out of the plot. And without any irony at all, this will only appeal to fans of the videogame on which it's based. Everyone else will be worried about the state of their hearing after sitting through this noisy mess. And about the state of Wahlberg's career.

themes, strong violence, language

21.Oct.08