What Moore does manage to achieve is a nice sense of style, constantly shrouding his version of New York City in shadow and a perpetual snowfall that never seems to touch down on the ground. Moore owes a lot visually to the noir heritage and films like Sin City and even The Matrix, which means his film tends to feel a bit derivative at times. Mostly though, it’s a solid visual spectacle, other than a hokey subplot that features some utterly ridiculous looking winged creatures.
Still, Max Payne has a big problem — its audience has no reason to feel invested in what happens. Even the die hard action fan requires a reason to care, and although the film serves as passable entertainment if you’re willing to shut off your brain, Wahlberg fails to create any connection between his character and the audience. His plight in the film may be dramatic, but five minutes after you’re out of the theater, who cares?
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