I'd never really played any of the "Max Payne" games until a few months ago when I saw the original was available on the PlayStation Network as a "classic" for download, so I bought it and played through it in a few sittings and I really liked it. I haven't played the second or third games, but after watching this movie I can tell you that it's based primarily on the first game-- there may have been references to the others in it, but I'm not sure.Anyway, the movie features Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch as the titular character, a grizzled cop working lonely hours in the cold case office. When a friendly rookie asks Max if he wants to go grab a beer after work and Max doesn't respond, the Police Commissioner tells the rookie to 'leave Max alone, because we all have a story and Max's is one of the worst.' Turns out that much like in the game, Max's family was murdered viciously by a gang of drug addicts-- at least that's what it says on the books. But Max has been secretly at work digging through the cold case files with the intent of a psychopath trying to find leads for the last three years and soon he does and leads into a twist and turned filled spiral down into a seedy criminal underworld filled with junkies, gangsters, military defectors and wicked bits of Norse mythology.That's all I'm going to go into on the story. I know my reviews usually drag out the details of the plot, but here I really don't see a point. It's a 2008 action/thriller/drama and it's pretty to the point most of the time. There are bits and pieces where they might delve into a subplot, but for the most part it's just Max Payne doing what Max Payne does best: beating up the bad guys and not playing by the rules.My main problem with the movie is that Max's inner dialogue from the game is stripped from the narrative. My favorite part of the video-game was in between levels and cut-scenes was listening to Max talk about the world around him and his skewed take on it. And while Marky Mark really plays the part of Max well, I felt that they could have had him doing the voice-overs like in the game adapted for the changes the movie brought in, but to be fair, Mark's acting is good enough to compensate for that most of the time. My other main criticism of the film is the downplaying of the Norse mythology, which, while it IS there, it seems to be so heavily downplayed from its role in the game's story that it becomes kind of a background piece, instead choosing to tell us about it through the characters' tattoos and company logos-- the Norse angel wings and while we do eventually see the angels show up, it just doesn't feel as powerful as the way it's conveyed in the game's story where we learn a lot about Rockstar's take on Norse mythology and how the winter setting in a violent town compliments the idea of Ragnarok, which is said to be a time when the world is covered in ice and snow and those who can fight are doing so which such ferocity that the white sheets of it run red with blood. Again, it's conveyed in the movie more through visuals than narrative, with the exception of a sketchy tattoo artist who gives us a brief explanation of some of the ancient Norse beliefs.Things I did like though included Marky Mark as Max Payne, he really shines as the character, bringing a new depth from the game's take which was a little flat but like I said compensated with the voice-over narrative. It was also fun to see Beau Bridges in the movie, I've always liked the guy and I feel like he's not enough movies and he's really perfect for the part he plays which he does well as always. Mila Kunis is in the movie as Mona, though she doesn't get a lot of screen time, which is kind of surprising and much of her story arch is changed from her role in the game. Ludacris is also a major character in the movie and I never get a chance to say this, but he's a really good actor! I remember I saw a movie with him in it as a minor character called "Gamer," and while I hated the movie as a whole, I thought that his character in that film was the best thing about it. As for his role in this movie, he's good as always, playing a by the book internal affairs officer. The sets are all very good as well, the director opting to use practical on set effects much of the time favoring them over green screen. The special effects are all extremely melodramatic-- almost to a "Sin City" point, but I liked the style a lot and it put me into a sort of surreal world where everything isn't as it should be, some things that just aren't there can be seen lurking in shadows and there's a scene where the snowflakes turn into fire which I thought was absolutely fantastic. I want to take this time to mention I watched the 'unrated' cut of the movie, which has a lot of bloody explosions that I'm assuming were done with packets of red paint and they look really realistic and the slow-motion, which is overused in the latter half of the movie is also good but it can become tiresome in the "Rag Na Rok Club shoot-out" scene. But the movie rounds itself out, even if the story can be difficult to follow at times.It's all well written and scripted, the directing falls a bit flat at times but like I said there are parts where it seemed to lose me, maybe a second viewing is in order. I know the movie was picked apart by critics upon release who said it was even worse than 'Hitman,' which is a movie I also enjoyed but I really feel this was a better film than 'Hitman' as a whole. I can't believe this movie is six years old already (as of 2014, the time I'm writing this), I could have sworn it was from at least 2010 or 2011. If you find a copy of it, which isn't difficult, check it out!