Max Payne

Let's face it, there's never going to be a top-notch feature film based on a videogame. The genre is littered with disappointments, misfires and, in the case of Uwe Boll's BloodRayne and Postal, two of the worst films ever made.

A few films based on videogames do achieve if not credibility, a degree of entertainment value. Resident Evil and Hitman managed it. Silent Hill was effective at generating mood and atmosphere. This is the case with Max Payne, which plays out in a world that's been thoughtfully realised by director John Moore, DP Jonathan Sela and the art team.

Water down the despairing unease of Angel Heart, add the bleach bypass murk of Se7en and the comic-book noir of Sin City, mixed with the apocalyptic CGI of Constantine, unify the whole with persistent flurries of snow, add some action sequences, which have a touch of The Matrix - a film that was a strong influence on the original videogame - and that's Max Payne.

Max (Wahlberg) is a bitter, broken bastard. He starts the film with some voiceover declaring, "I don't believe in Heaven. I believe in pain. I believe in fear. I believe in death." Why is he so grim? Because his wife and young child were murdered three years before and he's spent every moment since then trying to solve the crime.

Wahlberg, teeth clenched, brow furrowed, plays most of the film like he's suffering from serious constipation. But then, tortured noir action heroes don't need to be expressive, they're simply at the heart of events, and here the plot unfolds around Max.

He meets a girl, Natasha, at a party - it's Olga Kurylenko, doing another version of the Bond Girl-type role she had in Hitman, before getting the gig for real in Quantum Of Solace. She gets killed, and Max's wallet is found at the scene by his ex-partner (Logue). He is also killed but not before he notices a clue - the killers of Max's family had wing tattoos like those sported by Natasha. Max is approached by straight-arrow internal affairs cop Bravura (Ludacris). He's ostensibly helped by ex-cop BB (Bridges), his dad's old partner who's now head of security at a big pharma called Aesir. Which also has wings in its logo.

Add to this Natasha's Russian Mob assassin sister Mona (Kunis), a potential whistle-blower (O'Donnell), a highly addictive new drug (which the cops seem unaware of, despite junkies strewing vials all over), some winged demons, and a scary, tattooed guy called Lupino (Nolasco) and the scene is set for a murky mystery/predictable storyline that builds towards the aforementioned action set-pieces and climactic showdowns.

If you've seen Iron Man you'll know not to trust a fat cat who was an old friend of your dead dad, especially if he represents a corporation that does dodgy work for the military and is played by member of the Bridges family. Max, presumably, has been too busy sulking to stop by the multiplex to catch that particular summer blockbuster.

There's nothing new here, but John Moore redeems himself marginally after the atrocious Omen remake. The film moves along without much variation in tone, in part due to Wahlberg's performance. "Max is one of the most complex roles I've ever played," the actor has said, but his one-note turn is more The Happening than The Departed. Nevertheless Max Payne manages to retain your attention. Those atmospheric visuals keep it interesting to look at, if you're into CGI-noir.