It lives

So... the computer which has been DEAD since about Friday is "back," so to speak... and thus so is what passes for my online "presence." Yay.

For what it's worth? "Max Payne?" Don't bother. Y'know what the problem with 90% of video game movies is? It's not that they're based on games... it's that they're based on the WRONG games.

There are PLENTY of games with original or at least uniquely-realized worlds and stories - Mario, Zelda, Bioshock, Dragon Quest, Prince of Persia, Fallout, Sonic, No More Heroes etc. all come to mind. Make a faithful adaptation of any of those and you'll probably get a good one. Trouble is, there are plenty of OTHER games that are basically just unofficial knock-offs of stuff that already existed - popular movies, for example - with the in-game benefit of interactivity. It's not exactly a new thing, either: Rastan, after all, was just Conan but you could PLAY it.

So one shouldn't REALLY be surprised when, for example, you make a Resident Evil movie and you get a Romero-ripoff... thats what Resident Evil IS. Likewise, since "Max Payne" was basically just a (very good) playable composite of every hard-bitten cop cliche from Mike Hammer to Dirty Harry to Martin Riggs, there's really no point in making a movie out of it and expecting anything OTHER than a generic cop thriller.