Max Payne (2008)
(In theaters, October 2008) The irony is that this film based on a game largely inspired by John Woo movies never feels a tenth as interesting as John Woo movies themselves. Aside from a fairly dull shootout in an office made of glass partition and a ridiculous shotgun blast in a factory, the game’s celebrated “bullet time” (itself borrowed from another pretty good movie) scarcely makes an appearance. But if you were hoping for a compelling plot to fill in the blanks left by underwhelming action, forget about it: What we get is by-the-numbers revenge plotting, with scenes that sound familiar and dialogue that never sticks in mind. It’s a pretty sad film, really, and the occasional visual flourishes aren’t enough to make it better than it is. Game-to-movie adaptations usually have a terrible record, and this one will only fuel that particular axiom.