Movie: Max Payne

Steve has been going on for ages about seeing this. Having played the game many years ago I figured it could wait until DVD however the delicious Mark Wahlberg was in it so I decided to tag along as well.

Wahlberg does the brooding, kick the door down, pissy guy rolls really well. I think its the “serious frown” that he has going on.

To be honest this was actually pretty good. I would probably even watch it again (on DVD). The computer graphics are great and if you enjoyed the computer game there is plenty of falling snow, a little bit of the heavy breathing, “bullet time” a rather nifty effect in the Max Payne game even gets a look in (be it a small part).

Rather enjoyable for a bit of mindless, un-thought provoking entertainment. 4 out of 5.

Movie: Body of Lies

Not being much of a Leonardo DiCaprio fan I did go in to this one with some trepidation. I haven’t seen Blood Diamond yet but Steve assures me that DiCaprio is fabulous in that. Possibly his talent as an actor has been slightly stifled by the Titanic stigma.

Directed by Ridley Scott and again also featuring Russell Crowe, Body of Lies was I believe an incredible, thought provoking, disturbing and graphic look at the fight against extremist groups. It poses the question as to whether a given result is justified if the means to get there ignores the ethical values and ideology being fought for in the first place. That’s what I got from it anyway.

I think at the end of the day it is supposed to be a great boy flick with lots of action. It delivers that, most of which I found rather disturbing and uncomfortable. The material matter of the movie seemed even more relevant as the Mumbai incident had started the day before we saw Body of Lies.

3 out of 5.