There’s a moment in Tony
Scott’s 2004 film Man on Fire
where Christopher Walken attempts to make someone understand just what
kind of a man Denzel Washington’s ex-CIA operative John Creasy is. He
calmly explains that, “A man can be an artist… in anything, food,
whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasy’s art is death,
and he’s about to paint his masterpiece.” This statement could just as
easily be used to describe the state of Max Payne in his third outing,
which fittingly draws ample inspiration from Man on Fire.
No matter how nightmarish his life may become, Max remains a steadfast
angel of death who’ll stop at nothing on his road of revenge.
The many story and thematic
elements that Max Payne 3
shares with Scott’s underrated film should not be frowned upon, but
rather embraced. Anyone who’s played their share of Rockstar games
knows that the studio has never been one to be shy about the works of
art that influence them. Without the films of Martin Scorsese, Grand Theft Auto
would not exist in its current state. Without the contributions that
Sergio Leone made to the western genre, Red Dead
Redemption would’ve never been
able to ride off into the sunset of gaming history. In this respect,
sitting down with a Rockstar title is akin to taking a lesson from a
team of true pop-culture historians, and Max Payne 3 does not
disappoint in leading us on a journey through genre film and literature
past.
