Max Payne: Retribution (2017) User Reviews

For a fan project not too bad, but for general standards not enough

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 February 2019]

"Max Payne: Retribution" is a British English-language live action shott film fom 2017 written and directed by Leroy Kincaide, normally a prolific actor, but here also the man in charge of penning and behind the camera. However, he also acts in here not too surprisingly as this is his main profession. Now I have come across quite a few Max Payne movies in recent years. I guess the character is really attarctive to filmmakers right now, not just the big ones, but also in terms of fan films like this one we have here. And it is not a bad fan movie. Sure, you won't know any of the cast members I suppose, but visually I liked it. Effects, costumes and sets don't look worse than in many Hollywood productions. Unfortunately, the story is not really a revelation. The (not so helpless) damsel in distress that needs rescuing and also turns into a love interest eventually is about as predictable as most other stuff here. You can decide if you see the scenes inving Payne as brutal for the sake of it, for the shock of the moment or bold. I will not try to influence your judgment here. I am talking about one moment in particular when he shoots another guy during a fight at point blank and you see the blood splashing from the fella's head. I mean I don't mind violence, but it has to make somewhat sense at least in terms of the overall picture and plot. I must say while the acting was tolerable, not good, let alone great, the script did not impress me one bit and that is also the negative deal breaker here for me. The film never really drew me in story-wise or even had me at the edge of my seat I must say. If you really really love Max Payne or are some kind of completionist, then you can check it out and honestly it is okay for a fan film and there are many worse movies out there. It is certainly not a failure by any means, but overall I still give it a thumbs-down. To me, this was never a film that would get me interested in the character and as I play (almost) no video games, I also did not know much or care much about/for him before watching this little movie. It's a thumbs-down for me. Not recommended.

Nice tribute despite flaws,

[VernieT · 12 July 2017]

As a true long time fan and player of the Max Payne games I was excited to see this , after watching it properly a few times here's some both good and bad observations about Max payne Retribution:

• The style of the film, lights shadows and ambiance was very dark, moody and reminiscent to the games. -The intro was very Max Payne, throwback to the games -The story is not very deep, in the games Max does everything and anything after the murder of his family to go to the bottom of things, goes undercover for 3 years.In Retribution Max is apparently just living his life and Mona has to give give him information before he starts digging deeper... --The ending was plain awful , with a long monologue by Lupino that did't reveal much at all. -Some scenes are kind of boring and irrelevant(long torture scene beginning, sniffing scene) , the scenes with Max I enjoyed(despite the distracting bartender at the start),dream scenes are well done, they puled off a double dream very Inception like. -The sound was iffy through the whole thing and some funky camera cuts, from the face, to the profile, to face, extreme close ups all over . Best was the one scene where it was static, which was the scene of Max at home with the picture frame and music box. -The action was quite good although some quick cuts make it hard to see clearly what happened, its good action , the effects are on the weak side but its a fan film. -The representation of Max Payne was definitely on point, he made you feel for him and root for him, had all the characteristics and did't see one fake note in his acting through the whole film,so very good. Only thing he didn't have a NJ accent it was more of standard American. -Mona was efficient , especially at her first scene in the coffee shop, then she seems to go through the motions, you see her fingers shake when she touches herself in the dream and when she holds the gun is not quite assassin like. -Jack Lupino wasn't like in the game more modeled after the 2008 fiasco movie. Lupino is a fine villain but not strong enough to be the main villain. The actor playing him did a good job on the first scene but later seemed to be in and out like in the sniffing scene and last scene -Draven character wasn't from the games, and i feel instead we could had Finito brothers or a Niagara that would be more in tune with the games but he was good in his part and amusing to watch.

Being harsh when seeing the film is essential as a big fan of Max Payne but I also take into account that its a fan film with apparently very limited resources and speaking for the fans we are grateful to have this one as despite flaws as mentioned its an entertaining watch and shows big love for the franchise and to date is without a doubt the best Max Payne on screen depiction.

Fan Service

[xs-63151 · 3/10 · 24 June 2017]

Max Payne: Retribution is Film that Focus more on Fan Service For The Max Payne Fan Base Rather Than Being A Normal Film with Simple Story or Character Development if you are A Huge Fan of The Games and Like This Movie, Than Good For You. However it dose not Help A lot of The Issue that this Film Have Some of the Acting is Terrible and Awkward Both at The Same Time The Music Sound Generic and sound nothing Related to Max Payne Camera Angles dose not look good and Dialogue are Bland and Cliché and if Anyone going to make Excuse That This Just A Fan Film Than Let Me Tell you There are Lot of Max Payne Fan Films That are Way More Interesting to Watch Compare to This.

Weak story but good Max Payne film

[Gondor3 · 7/10 · 26 June 2017]

Its a shame that the story is on the weak side and there is a lack of development and explanation of certain details. The games had very clever writing that would just flow naturally , however on Retribution that is not the case as the dialogue is quite cliché. The action scene(comes after a long wait)was very impressive and well executed, I expected much less.

For some reason a lot of shots were close-ups and it can be distracting and is totally unnecessary , however the ambient of the film works well with the games.

After seeing it twice I believe the film is saved by the casting of Max Payne(Joan James Muixi)and Curtis Draven(Jon Campling)

Max Payne here was excellent ,had the complexity, depth, the pain,and the determination required, while the voice was very different that the original(James McCaffrey) but had a raspy element of "I just don't care" that is fitting. Curtis Draven brought a much needed note of theatricality and wickedness that was fun to watch, it was a shame that he is killed off screen as a duel between Max and him was what I was hoping for.

Mona Sax was effective but he was just "a damsel in distress", they took that quote a little too literally except when she fired the last shoot of the cliffhanger which wasn't appropriate taking into account the way she behaved the whole film.

Its an excellent short film but of judged as a movie should then the plot, audio, camera etc should noted. Nevertheless its a MUST watch for any Max Payne fan and it represents the Max Payne of the games much better than the 2008 movie.

Fantastic Fan Film - Needs to be made into a TV Series

[cbipout · 8/10 · 25 June 2017]

for a short fan film made by like zero budget this film really exceeded expectations! It really has all the core Max Payne elements from the game, however i do feel like it needs to be transformed into a TV series of some sort to expand on the story and characters.

Here's to hoping for a Netflix series!