I was hungry for some action flick, you know, guns, killing, some drugs and beautiful women, and thought about this film. Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a detective in New York City in our modern time. Three years ago, his wife and child were murdered and the case was unsolved. In result, Max began hunting criminals as an act of revenge, hoping to kill the criminal who killed his family. During his investigation, he met Natasha Sax (Olga Kurylenko) and Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) in a party. The next day, Natasha was found dead and Max was the prime suspect. Mona confronts Max to find out the truth, only to conclude that they are after the same killer. Max continues his investigation with the assistance of Mona through underground organizations and massive corporations to find what really happened. At the end, the truth was much more complicated than they ever anticipated. The cast of this film was accurate from what I was expecting. Mark Wahlberg did his 'bad ass' part almost like The Punisher. He went had no fear when his family was murdered, similar to the Punisher. Even Mila Kunis had some 'bad ass' attitude almost like Laura Croft. Ludacris' role was interesting. He played as a Lieutenant who was investigating Max's unethical behaviors, like an internal affair role. I think this was his best performance yet in the film industry. The plot of the film was almost identical as the Punisher's first film, however, this plot was a little bit more complex. I know many people watched the trailers and made comments about the dark angels. Initially, I did not understand their purpose. Was it like Constantine? Not even close. Actually, once you finish the film, everything made sense and the dark angels weren't much of a problem of understanding their purpose. I never thought how the weather can really effect the entire scene or film. Well I did, but not in this magnitude. This film is not a happy/family film, and you will know that right away from the atmosphere they present in the first few minutes of the film. Even the images were manipulated to fit the proper atmosphere. At first, I thought they applied a little bit of 300 graphics in it, but it was mostly the weather's influences. Over all, the picture was unique and appropriate that mimics Max's emotions and rampage mood. My favorite scene was when Max was in the parking lot of a building having a shoot out with other people. It's a basic scene for an action flick, however, the camera did an interesting effect that made it feel like the audience was part of the rampage. They basically was moving the camera up and down, side to side, while Max was shooting at people and running towards them. The camera was dynamic, almost in sync with his movements. You can feel the other people's confusion and fear. I can't explain it much more, but it was an intense scene because of the camera's movements. This film was better than I expected. I was not expecting much from it considering the dark angels I saw from the trailers. The plot could of have been better but it's not bad for the first film in its franchise. I was really amazed from the picture of the film in its franchise. I thought it really stood out as Max's emotions. The weather was a great way to manipulate the mood. Overall, if you want to buy it, rent it. My recommendation is that this is not as great as Traitor, but do try to watch Max Payne if nothing else is available.

TRUPER™